CA to Give Free Healthcare to Illegal Immigrants, but Can They Afford the Whopping Price Tag?

California's liberal Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democrat lawmakers there say their state will now provide tens of thousands of illegal immigrants with full health care benefits.

Everyone under the age of 26, regardless of resident status, now qualifies for the state's Medicare program.    

The estimated cost? $100 million per year.

On CBN's Global Lane program, economics expert Michael Busler of Stockton University said California is doing more for people living in the state illegally than it is for citizens in need.

"We have a big homeless problem here, and in California for instance, if you're going to spend $100 million, why don't you spend it on helping homeless Americans, 50,000 of which are on the streets of Los Angeles just living in tents," Busler said.

Some California Democrats did object to the plan, but not for the reason Busler stated. Instead, they wanted to give free health coverage to ALL undocumented migrants, not just those under the age of 26.

Meanwhile, the state of California is already $468 Billion in debt, and it's climbing every minute.

It's difficult to get a hard number on how much illegal immigration costs the broader US economy because the exact number of illegal immigrants collecting government benefits isn't known.

But Busler says it runs into the billions of dollars.

Busler says overall, with record deficit spending in Washington, and with the US debt now soaring beyond $22 Trillion, the United States can not afford to spend large amounts of money on illegal immigrants.

That's why he's praising America's businessman-president for using tariffs to get the result he wanted, convincing Mexico to help stop the tens of thousands of illegal migrants from flooding toward the US border every week.

"A politician would convene a summit, talk about this for six months, come back and convene another summit, talk about it for another six months and eventually kick the can down the road for the next guy," Busler said. "President Trump is a business person. A business person sees a problem – especially if it is affecting your bottom line – and tries to solve the problem immediately."