Does SB 810 (Leno) cover undocumented immigrants?
A. Yes. It costs California less to insure undocumented immigrants than to exclude them. People without health insurance don’t get preventive care and, consequently, use expensive emergency rooms and hospital care when they get sick. It is estimated that if every Californian got preventive care we could save $3.4 billion dollars a year. Most undocumented Californians are employed in essential jobs and our immigrants pay $80,000 more in taxes and fees over a lifetime than they will receive in local, state and federal benefits in their lifetimes. And it’s good public health policy to insure the entire population. It helps control epidemics or outbreaks that could expose everyone to disease. III.
