After expanding 黑料吃瓜网's Medicaid program to include children up to 12 years old, regardless of immigration status, a new bill would expand that coverage to people up to 26 years old.
Roughly testified Tuesday about the to expand , 黑料吃瓜网's Medicaid system.
Werner Oyanadel, the Latino and Puerto Rican policy director at the , said at an earlier news conference that health care is a human right and should be included in the new 黑料吃瓜网 budget.
鈥淚 think the state of 黑料吃瓜网 is realizing that the way that we provide this benefit to the population can save the state of 黑料吃瓜网 a lot of money, because prevention can allow the state not to see people in the emergency rooms later on,鈥� Oyanadel said.
Luis G. Luna, the coalition manager at , estimated that the bill as drafted would cost the state $18.5 million. He believes expanding state Medicaid beyond what is being proposed, to include all undocumented immigrants over 26 years old, would cost taxpayers about $63 million.
Ariana Gonzalez, an immigrant from Ecuador, shared her family鈥檚 experience during a news conference, explaining that her 8-year-old brother suffers from a lack of health care.
鈥淲hen he was born, he was diagnosed with asthma,鈥� Gonzalez said. 鈥淲e had to take him to the pediatrician frequently because he was very ill. He needed many medical tests, and that cost a lot of money. My home is just me, my mom and my little brother.鈥�
However, the bill faces opposition. (R-Wolcott) said in a statement that she is 鈥渟trongly against this legislation as it will provide state funds to people who are not citizens nor permanent residents, at a time when other services for legal residents remain underfunded.鈥� She also expressed concern that the full cost of the legislation hasn鈥檛 been determined.
