Illegal immigrants in California want health coverage. How do we handle this?

emnmnme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK6IG67IuLI
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/03/illegal-immigrants-health-coverage-california-endowment.html

Free healthcare for illegal immigrants isn't a bad idea for Californians to run with because:
1) California's hospitals already eat ~$1.2 billion a year on emergency room and hospital bills for illegal immigrants. The uninsured not paying their bills is part of the reason why an aspirin in the hospital costs two dollars instead of two cents.
2) California can afford to extend Medicaid coverage to undocumented residents of the state since the federal government will pay for the majority of costs for new enrollments. All California needs to do is expand eligibility requirements to include them and the burden falls to the federal government to pay it.
http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/healthcare/medi-cal_expansion13.pdf

Of the new Medi-Cal spending, 85 percent or more will be federally-paid. The Medi-Cal Expansion and enrollment growth among those already eligible is predicted to bring between $2.1 and $3.5 billion in new federal Medi-Cal dollars to California in 2014, growing to between $3.4 and $4.5 billion in 2019.
Overall, the federal government will pay for at least 85 percent of the total new Medi-Cal spending between 2014 and 2019, including: 100 percent of the health care spending for the newly eligible for the first three years (and no less than 90 percent in 2017 and after); 50 percent for those already eligible for Medi-Cal but not enrolled; and 88 percent for children already eligible for Healthy Families but not enrolled in 2015 through 2019, and 65 percent in 2014.

I browsed the Medi-Cal website and it looks like illegal immigrants can already get a form of Medi-Cal with partial benefits but it's not as good as what Americans get.

With the big healthcare overhaul coming and amnesty constantly being debated, now's a good a time to figure out how to insure the two million+ undocumented residents living in California. Obamacare's individual mandate does NOT apply to illegal immigrants so the state is what they have to rely on in the long term. Should an illegal immigrant who has lived in the state for X number of years be able to qualify for Medi-Cal's full benefits? Should California treat those living above the poverty line like green card holders and allow them to buy subsidized private insurance? What about mental health services and prescription medication payments?

emnmnme

It seems like there is going to be a long-term solution for illegal immigrants in America in need of reliable coverage. It's just going to take a decade of waiting.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/mar/24/how-amnesty-undocumented-immigrants-would-impact-h/

Obama’s commitment to move an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants nationally “out of the shadows” would not end there. Under current law, it would also slowly open the door for them to qualify for public programs, including health reform’s massive coverage expansions.

Obama’s plan would have immigrants wait at least eight years before they qualify for health benefits. A Congressional plan spearheaded by Republican senators Marco Rubio and John McCain pushes the wait to at least 10 years.

There is a push by several groups to win immediate health reform benefits for undocumented immigrants. But so far neither President Obama, nor Congress, has shown any interest.