BERKELEY, Calif., June 4 Wed Jun 4, 2014 7:00am EDT
<span id="articleText"/>BERKELEY, Calif., June 4 (Reuters) - Voters in California's Alameda County passed a measure on Tuesday that is expected to raise $100 million a year for health clinics for illegal immigrants, who are excluded from state programs and the federal Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>On May 23 a measure to include illegal immigrants in the state's Medi-Cal program for the poor to residents who are undocumented stalled in the state senate, and immigration reform proposals have also stalled in U.S. Congress for the past year.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>The measure extends a 0.5 percent sales tax to fund the clinics to 2034 from 2019.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>"Our elected officials, our constituents, and our health authority see healthcare as a basic human right, to be provided regardless of immigration status," Alex Briscoe, Director of the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency, said.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>About 7 percent of California's population - 2.6 million people - are undocumented, and in 2012 the state spent more than $600 million on emergency room and other health-related services alone for people living in the state illegally.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>Many of those who used the facilities in the past will now be eligible for insurance under Obamacare or the Medi-Cal program, leaving a potential funding gap for the clinics that are already struggling to meet the needs of patients expected to be increasingly those without documents or health insurance.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>Alameda County, which includes the cities of Berkeley and Oakland east of San Francisco, funds health care services for about 50,000 undocumented residents at the clinics.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>The measure passed by a nearly 3-to-1 margin with all precincts reporting results early on Wednesday. (Reporting by Jennifer Chaussee; Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Louise Ireland)
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<span id="articleText"/>BERKELEY, Calif., June 4 (Reuters) - Voters in California's Alameda County passed a measure on Tuesday that is expected to raise $100 million a year for health clinics for illegal immigrants, who are excluded from state programs and the federal Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>On May 23 a measure to include illegal immigrants in the state's Medi-Cal program for the poor to residents who are undocumented stalled in the state senate, and immigration reform proposals have also stalled in U.S. Congress for the past year.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>The measure extends a 0.5 percent sales tax to fund the clinics to 2034 from 2019.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>"Our elected officials, our constituents, and our health authority see healthcare as a basic human right, to be provided regardless of immigration status," Alex Briscoe, Director of the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency, said.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>About 7 percent of California's population - 2.6 million people - are undocumented, and in 2012 the state spent more than $600 million on emergency room and other health-related services alone for people living in the state illegally.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>Many of those who used the facilities in the past will now be eligible for insurance under Obamacare or the Medi-Cal program, leaving a potential funding gap for the clinics that are already struggling to meet the needs of patients expected to be increasingly those without documents or health insurance.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>Alameda County, which includes the cities of Berkeley and Oakland east of San Francisco, funds health care services for about 50,000 undocumented residents at the clinics.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>The measure passed by a nearly 3-to-1 margin with all precincts reporting results early on Wednesday. (Reporting by Jennifer Chaussee; Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Louise Ireland)
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