SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday proposed that California roll back health care for immigrants without legal status, saying the state needed to cut benefits for some to maintain core services across the board.
It’s a striking reversal for the Democrat, who had promised universal health care and called health coverage for immigrants the moral and ethical thing to do. But a $12 billion state budget deficit, potential federal spending cuts, and larger-than-expected Medi-Cal enrollment have forced him to dial back.
Newsom said he had no other choice but to call for major cost-cutting measures affecting how some immigrants are covered by Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, which covers about 15 million Californians.
“The challenge that we face this year and the challenge we will face for many years is on growth of our Medicaid system, Medi-Cal,” Newsom told reporters at his budget presentation. “Instead of rolling back the program, cutting people off for basic care, we have to adjust the comprehensive nature of the care.”
California is one of seven states that offer health coverage to low-income adults regardless of immigration status, and that has put the program in the political crosshairs of national Republicans. The latest U.S. House proposal would cut Medicaid funding by 10 percentage points for states that provide coverage for immigrants without legal status — an approach Newsom on Wednesday described as legally questionable. Meanwhile, the Trump administration cited California’s health coverage of noncitizens as an example of states “gaming the system” when it issued a proposed rule Monday to overhaul Medicaid provider taxes.
Some 1.6 million immigrants — most without legal status — are enrolled in Medi-Cal. Federal law prohibits Medicaid dollars from being used to cover unauthorized residents, mea …