(Crankers) California State Rep Carl DeMaio shows budget data that exposes Gavin Newsom for spending so much money on illegal immigrant healthcare, that it’s a massive strain on taxpayers, taking up a huge portion of the deficit. We’re not even talking millions here. It’s in the BILLIONS and it’s wasting taxpayer money like it’s nothing.
California spends an estimated $8.5 billion annually on healthcare for undocumented immigrants through the Medi-Cal program. This cost has exceeded initial projections, leading to budget shortfalls and recent proposals to freeze new enrollment and introduce cost-sharing for some enrollees.
The total cost has grown from an earlier projection of about $3 billion per year. The state’s Medi-Cal program for undocumented immigrants costs about $8.5 billion per year.
This spending is a contributing factor to the state’s budget deficit, which is estimated to be around $12 billion.
The actual costs have been higher than initially projected, which was estimated at $3 billion annually, due to factors like higher enrollment numbers and increased long-term care benefits.
State Borrowing: The state has had to borrow from its general fund to cover unexpected costs in the Medi-Cal program.
Proposed Changes: In response to budget constraints, Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed freezing enrollment for new immigrants and potentially introducing a monthly cost of $100 for some adult enrollees.
In January 2024, California expanded Medi-Cal to cover all income-eligible undocumented immigrants, regardless of age.
A previous expansion, which covered more than 1.1 million undocumented enrollees, cost the state approximately $1.6 billion annually.
The most recent expansion is projected to cost an additional $2.6 billion per year after an initial six-month cost of about $835 million.
California’s current budget deficit is projected to be around $18 billion for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
This is a multi-year issue, with previous years also facing significant shortfalls, such as a $12 billion deficit in 2025-26 and a much larger $68 billion deficit projected for the 2024-25 fiscal year due to a sharp revenue decline.
The current deficit is driven by factors including spending growth outpacing revenue, a decline in the prior year’s revenue, and increased costs from federal policy changes.
Key figures and contributing factors:
- $18 billion: The projected deficit for 2026-27, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO).
- $12 billion: The deficit the state addressed for 2025-26.
- $68 billion: The estimated deficit for 2024-25, driven by a severe revenue decline in 2022-23.
Causes of the deficit:
- Spending growth: State spending is growing faster than revenues.
- Revenue decline: A significant drop in tax collections, particularly in 2022-23, has contributed to the shortfall.
- Federal policy changes: New federal health and food assistance programs are increasing state costs.
- Past budget assumptions: Earlier budget forecasts did not anticipate the extent of the revenue decline, and some “phantom money” was already spent.
