Medi-Cal: immigration status.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill did not pass into law and its exact impact is uncertain.

Medi-Cal: Immigration Status

This bill makes people who don't have satisfactory immigrant status ineligible for full Medi-Cal benefits and creates the Serving Our Seniors Fund to help pay Medicare Part B premiums.

What This Bill Does

• Makes individuals without satisfactory immigrant status ineligible for full Medi-Cal benefits.
• Creates the Serving Our Seniors Fund using money previously allocated for Medi-Cal benefits of those with unsatisfactory immigration status.
• Uses funds from the new Serving Our Seniors Fund to help pay Medicare Part B premiums for eligible individuals.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who don't have satisfactory immigrant status and were previously eligible for full Medi-Cal benefits.
• The State Department of Health Care Services, which administers both Medi-Cal and Medicare programs.

Terms To Know

Medi-Cal

A health care program in California that helps low-income people pay for medical costs.

Satisfactory immigrant status

Having legal permission to live and work permanently in the United States.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill did not pass into law as it died at the governor's desk.
• It is unclear how many people will be affected by this change.
• Details about how the Serving Our Seniors Fund will operate are not provided in the summary.

Official Summary Text

AB 1012, as introduced, Essayli.
Medi-Cal: immigration status.
Existing federal law provides for the Medicare Program, which is a public health insurance program for persons 65 years of age and older and specified persons with disabilities who are under 65 years of age. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions.
The federal Medicaid program prohibits payment to a state for medical assistance furnished to an alien who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence or otherwise permanently residing in the United States under color of law. Existing state law extends Medi-Cal eligibility for the full scope of Medi-Cal benefits to an individual who does not
have satisfactory immigrant status if they are otherwise eligible for those benefits, as specified.
This bill would create the Serving Our Seniors Fund, would make an individual who does not have satisfactory immigrant status ineligible for Medi-Cal benefits, and would transfer funds previously appropriated for the provision of Medi-Cal benefits to those individuals to that fund. The bill would appropriate the moneys in that fund to the State Department of Health Care Services to restore and maintain payments for Medicare Part B premiums for eligible individuals. By making the moneys available without regard to fiscal years, the bill would create a continuous appropriation.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF