Grupos comunitarios de Los Ángeles, agradecen el acuerdo presupuestal. Foto: Rubén Tapia
In a step that once again puts California at the vanguard of the nation in policies to protect immigrants, state leaders have agreed to offer the health insurance known as Medi-Cal in this state to undocumented children from low-income families. Governor Jerry Brown and leaders from the state legislature came to a historic budget agreement that includes 40 million dollars for the initiative. The news was received with joy by immigrant rights organizations and activists in Los Angeles, though they say there is still a long way to go. Rubén Tapia reports.
Alicia Arango and her husband are Mexican immigrants. They work at a fast-food restaurant and make not much more than minimum wage.
Alicia Arango y su hijo Christopher, con una pluma gigante para que firme el gobernador Brown.
“The news that undocumented children will now have access to Medi-Cal fills all undocumented parents with joy,” says Arango.
The Arangos have two children, Victor, who is 12, and Christopher, who is 10. The family has been in the United States for seven years.
“I remember many nights when I couldn’t sleep because of the anxiety, because my kids were sick and they couldn’t have health insurance,” says Arango.
Last year, they had to take their son Christopher to the doctor.
“I ended up spending about 700 dollars that time, because they had to do studies to see what the problem was,” says Arango.
Christopher has gastric reflux, a condition that requires multiple visits to the doctor. He and his older brother Victor are also going through dental treatment that costs more than 5,000 dollars. That’s why Alicia is happy with California’s new budget.
“I’m going right away to apply for the kids to have Medi-Cal, so they can go to the doctor and get their physicals and everything they need,” she says.
Lorena Sánchez, representante de Children’s Defense Fund. Foto: Rubén Tapia.
If everything goes as planned, health insurance for undocumented children from low-income families will begin in May, 2016. Only four states offer this benefit to undocumented children: New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Washington. California’s population covered will be the biggest yet.
“California is the first state to accomplish this and we hope other states will follows its lead,”, says Lorena Sanchez, coordinator of health programs for the organization Children’s Defense Fund. She calculates that about 170,000 undocumented children in California will now be able to have health insurance.
The new budget also adds about 14,000 subsidized spaces for childcare and preschool for children from low-income families, at a cost of more than 250 million dollars.
Pancarta de la campana para presionar al gobernador de California Jerry Brown.
Despite the advances, there are still many criticisms of the budget. Governor Brown refused to sign off on offering health plans to adult undocumented immigrants, and he also said not to adding funds to programs that give aid to unemployed workers and blind and disabled senior citizens.
Immigrant rights activists in Los Angeles say there’s still a long road ahead, but they celebrated this victory with a shout of “Sí se pudo!”
By Rubén Tapia
