April 7, 2025

The Best Source of News, Culture, Lifestyle for Culver City, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Palms and West Los Angeles

Los Angeles Backs Expanded Access to Health Care Coverage

health care
Senate Bill 1005 seeks to expand access of the Affordable Care Act to include undocumented immigrants. (Thinkstock)

In a proclaimed attempt to “address a big wrong” committed by legislators in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles City Council last week unanimously threw its support behind a State Senator’s attempt to expand access to health care coverage to all California, regardless of their respective immigrant status.

A resolution brought to the council floor on April 22 by Councilman Gil Cedillo proposed to have the City of Los Angeles formally support Senate Bill 1005 (SB 1005). All 12 council members in attendance at the April 22 meeting voted in favor of the resolution.

Introduced in Sacramento by State Senator Ricardo Lara, the bill aims to have undocumented immigrants be included within the purview of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010.

The federal law, as stated by the City’s chief legislative analyst, would “ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care.”

However, according to Cedillo’s resolution and Lara’s bill, the ACA “specifically denies health care coverage to undocumented immigrants.”

Cedillo’s resolution added up to four million Californians would be insured with the full implementation of the ACA because of the provision to deny health care coverage to undocumented immigrants.

“In March of 2010, we were all excited when the President signed the Affordable Care Act … because we were joining the community of nations in providing an ability for all our citizens to have access to health care,” Cedillo told his colleagues. “Unfortunately, though, that Affordable Care Act had an asterisk.”

Cedillo added immigrants were left out of the process of implementing the ACA.

“As a result of the hysteria of the anti-immigrant xenophobia that exists, immigrants who can buy homes, businesses, cars, and auto insurance are legally prohibited from buying health insurance,” Cedillo said. “Regardless of your immigration status, people get sick.”

With the ACA excluding some based on immigrant status, Cedillo said, it would force those who are unable to purchase health insurance into emergency rooms and ultimately drive up health care costs “and increase human suffering.”

Councilman Mike Bonin, who represents several Westside communities, including Brentwood, Mar Vista, Palms, and Venice, told his colleagues he “could not be more enthusiastically in support” of the proposal to support SB 1005.

“The way the federal government has handled this issue is both illogical from a financial perspective and just flatly immoral from a human perspective,” Bonin stated. “This bill is the right thing to do. It is the right opportunity for California to address a big wrong from our nation’s capitol.”

In his bill, Lara stated SB 1005, if signed into law by the Governor, “would help close the gap and require that insurance coverage for undocumented immigrants be provided only with state funds.”

According to the City’s Chief Legislative Analyst, a joint study by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, and the UCSF Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies found between three and four million Californians would remain uninsured even with the ACA in effect. About one million from this group are undocumented immigrants ineligible for federal coverage options under the ACA, the study reported.

Cedillo’s resolution pointed out about 94 percent of Americans would be covered by the ACA.

Councilmen Mitch Englander, Felipe Fuentes, and Tom LaBonge were not present for the vote.

Related Posts

BuildStrong is Leading the Effort to Rebuild the Pacific Palisades

April 7, 2025

April 7, 2025

The recent wildfires in the Pacific Palisades caused extensive property damage, leaving many residents unsure about how to move forward....

West LA Affordable Housing Development Gets OK Without Parking Spaces

April 6, 2025

April 6, 2025

New Sawtelle Affordable Housing Project Gets City Approval According to the approval document posted to the Los Angeles City Planning...

The BW in Brentwood Sells for $744K Per Unit, Sets New LA Benchmark

April 6, 2025

April 6, 2025

LA’s Priciest Apartment Deal in Years Just Closed in Brentwood Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap,...

Genghis Cohen Leaving Fairfax Home After Four Decades

April 6, 2025

April 6, 2025

Chinese Food & Music Spot Genghis Cohen Is on the Move After more than four decades of serving New York-style...

Iconic Studio’s Departure Leaves Century City Facing Major Real Estate Shift

April 6, 2025

April 6, 2025

Once a Stable Real Estate Base, Century City Now Faces Renewed Uncertainty Century City, long considered a rare stronghold in...

Los Angeles Housing Department Ill-Equipped to Enforce Tenant Harassment Law

April 6, 2025

April 6, 2025

Thousands of Angelenos Report Harassment, Few Landlords Face Penalties A recent audit by the Los Angeles City Controller has found...

LAHSA CEO Resigns Amid Shift to New County-Led Homeless Department

April 6, 2025

April 6, 2025

LA Homeless Services Leader Resigns After Accountability Crisis The head of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority has stepped down...

Suspect Arrested and Charged in March 27 Hit-and-Run Death

April 4, 2025

April 4, 2025

The Victim Was on the Way to His Job at the Beverly Hills Hotel  A 20-year-old man has been arrested...

LAPD to Conduct DUI Checkpoints and Saturation Patrols Across L.A. This Weekend

April 4, 2025

April 4, 2025

Checkpoints and Saturation Patrols Target High-Risk Areas, Come With High Penalties The Los Angeles Police Department will conduct a series...

Man Arrested After Violent Robbery During Camera Equipment Meetup

April 4, 2025

April 4, 2025

One Suspect Caught, Two Still Sought in Culver City Armed Robbery A suspect connected to a recent armed robbery involving...

(Video) Adorn Your Home With Plants and Pottery from Urban Jungle

April 4, 2025

April 4, 2025

Go To Urbanjungleplantsandpottery.com For More Info Go To https://t.co/WwF5r95s90 For More Info⁠ pic.twitter.com/Ejled24yhJ — Westside Today (@WestsideLAToday) April 4, 2025

Join UCLA’s Innovative Memory Research Study!

April 3, 2025

April 3, 2025

Are you ready to contribute to groundbreaking research and help shape the future of memory treatments? Do you sometimes find...

Coming Soon: Easter Extravaganza at Regent Santa Monica Beach

April 3, 2025

April 3, 2025

Book your Delectable Brunch, Easter Festivities This Easter, step into a world of celebration and refined delight at Regent Santa Monica Beach....

Scoop Dreams Come True: Van Leeuwen Launches New Beverly Hills Shop

April 3, 2025

April 3, 2025

Van Leeuwen’s Beverly Hills Opening Comes With Sweet Perks Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, a New York City-born brand celebrated for...

WeHo’s WeHappy Wednesdays Serve Up Big Discounts In Addition to Zero Parking Fees

April 3, 2025

April 3, 2025

Free Parking and $5 Cocktails? WeHo Makes Wednesdays Worth It The City of West Hollywood and the West Hollywood Chamber...