California's 2.5 million immigrants often have three options when they get sick; go to a public clinic, go to the emergency room, or do nothing at all. One California bill is working to make Medi-Cal healthcare coverage available to immigrants who are in the United States illegally, reports the San Jose Mercury News.
Here are seven key points on the latest surrounding Senate Bill 4:
1. Senate Bill 4, part of the 'Immigrants Shape California' legislative package, will go to the California Senate Appropriations Committee for a vote.
2. The bill was conceived by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, who wrote a similar bill last year that did not pass.
3. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the cost for coverage of undocumented workers would be $175 million to $740 million.
4. The bill would also give undocumented workers with more money the ability the buy their own private plan through Covered California.
5. Reshma Shamasunder, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center, told the San Jose Mercury News that Californians seem "very supportive of the immigrant community" and that the bill would be a "modest investment for a huge return."
6. According to the "Immigrants Shape California" factsheet, undocumented immigrants paid $2.2 billion in taxes in 2010 and that these bills will "continue California's legacy of protecting its immigrant residents and providing opportunity for their socioeconomic advancement while ensuring equal justice for all."
7. Opponents of the bill feel it will cost taxpayers too much money.