California withdraws immigrant health care request
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California officials on Wednesday withdrew their request to sell unsubsidized insurance policies to people who can’t prove they’re legally in the United States after learning the decision would fall to President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.
Calling the decision “the first California casualty of the Trump presidency,” Sen. Ricardo Lara said he doesn’t trust the incoming administration to protect people’s privacy and health. The Democrat from Bell Gardens wrote legislation seeking to waive a federal requirement that the Covered California insurance exchange only do business with citizens and legal U.S. residents.
Officials from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified Covered California’s executive director on Tuesday that there would be a one-month public comment period and a 180-day window to make a final decision.
Trump, who has alarmed California Democrats with his rhetoric about immigrants and his pledge to step up deportations, takes office on Friday.