Obamacare for Illegal Immigrants

California is on its way toward becoming the first state to open its ObamaCare insurance exchange to illegal immigrants — and dropping the bill squarely on the state and its legal residents’ shoulders.

Although the federal Affordable Care Act explicitly prohibits illegals from buying into the insurance exchanges, the California bill could utilize a “loophole” in the law that allows for states running their own ACA exchange to apply for an “innovation waiver.” The bill, which has been sent to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk for approval, would give the state a chance to change select parts of the law on its own terms — as long as the federal government isn’t responsible for the cost and coverage is made more universally available.

“This is the first step in another misrepresentation of the Affordable Care Act…It was sold to the American people on the fact that you wouldn’t have to subsidize health care for illegal immigrants.”

Of course someone would have to cover the massive potential cost of placing so many new enrollees on the system, with many suddenly eligible for taxpayer funded subsidies — that cost would fall to California’s already-struggling taxpayers. The last publicly available report from the Tax Foundation found residents of the Golden State have the sixth largest tax burden in the nation.

California could be pioneering the path forward for other liberal-controlled states operating their own exchanges and websites. There are twelve states, including California, that fully operate their own exchange and website. The website for the federal exchange healthcare.gov explicitly states, “Undocumented immigrants aren’t eligible to buy Marketplace health coverage, or for premium tax credits and other savings on Marketplace plans.”

If the bill is passed in California, approximately 390,000 illegal immigrants could be eligible to sign up for a health insurance plan. This landmark move would betray President Barack Obama’s repeated promises that the ACA would only provide health insurance for legal U.S. residents.

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“There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants,” Obama had during a 2009 speech before a joint session of Congress. “This, too, is false. The reforms that I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”

The California push sure makes it look like those fears were correct, after all. And let’s not forget that it was at that point in Obama’s speech that Rep. Joe Wilson infamously shouted, “You lie!”

There are currently 18 states that offer illegal immigrants subsidies for prenatal care and health insurance for their children, but the California bill to throw open full coverage and subsidies to all illegals would be an unprecedented expansion.

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“This is the first step in another misrepresentation of the Affordable Care Act,” Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, told US News & World Report. “It was sold to the American people on the fact that you wouldn’t have to subsidize health care for illegal immigrants.”

In addition, California’s openness to offering illegal immigrants the chance to reap the benefits intended solely for legal residents could open the door to a slew of unintended and disastrous consequences for the U.S.

“With a legislature writing bills for people in our state illegally, this is incentive for the world to come to California illegally,” Robin Hvidston, the executive director of the California grassroots group We the People Rising, told The Daily Signal. “California is in the United States of America, and our legislators should be focused on legislating for our U.S. citizens.”