This past Friday was the final hurrah for workers for the nonprofit Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles to canvass LA looking for immigrants living in the United States illegally.

Their mission was to use iPads and clipboards to sign up as many illegal migrants as possible for Medi-Cal.

It is something they have been doing on Fridays since the start of October.

They are trying to beat the deadline this Wednesday that Sacramento set for adults with “unsatisfactory” immigration status — illegal migrants for those that don’t speak woke bureaucratese — to be enrolled for free Medi-Cal

They will get a free ride, if it is not politically incorrect to use that description, until mid-2027 when all adult illegal immigrants will have to start paying $30 a month to keep their Heath care coverage.

The non-profit, in case you are wondering, has health insurers and healthcare providers that receive Medi-Cal reimbursement among their biggest donors.

The numbers of illegal migrants on Medi-Cal now numbers 1.7 million, including children that are excluded from the premium requirement

In doing so, it has cratered California’s financial health as a state.

So far this fiscal year that ends June 30, 2026, the final step implementing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s grandiose plan to allow all illegal migrants in California to be covered by Medi-Cal at no cost to them has added $12.5 billion to state spending.

Since Newsom got the ball rolling in 2020 through a gradual expansion of age groups among illegals that could enroll, spending for Medi-Cal has gone from $104 billion a year to $197 billion a year.

And as much as Newsom would love to blame those soaring Medi-Cal costs that are crushing California taxpayers on his nemesis at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, he owns the majority of that $83 billion annual Medi-Cal cost increase.

That’s because the federal government has never paid a cent for healthcare for migrants that are here in the United States illegally.

It is true the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” included cuts to Medicaid spending that helps fund state programs such as Medi-Cal

But that is money that goes to help provide healthcare coverage to people who are citizens or are in this country legally.

California is now on track for an $18 billion budget deficit in the 2026-2027 fiscal year. That is projected to nearby double to $35 billion in the 2027-2028 fiscal year.

The legislative analyst believes Newsom’s new rule that adult illegal migrants who are currently in Medi-Cal that will be required to start paying $30 a month for coverage when mid-2027 rolls around will drive 1 million off the Medi-Cal rolls between that point and mid-2030

That will save the state a projected $10.9 billion.

Meanwhile, for the next 18 months California will continue extending free coverage to those illegal migrants already signed up.

Yes, there is a need to overhaul healthcare.

And it is less expensive to treat people for conditions before they become full blown issues.

No one disputes that.

A large number of physicians and other healthcare providers will not take new Medi-Cal patients — California’s program that relies heavily on federal Medicaid funding.

The reasons? Medi-Cal typically pays 80 percent or less of what a private insure may pay.

And if they do take Medi-Cal patients they have to book more patients for two reasons: More volume in the same time period to make up the financial shortfall or because Medi-Cal patients have earned a bad rap for having the highest rate of insured patients not keeping appointments.

No one disputes that.

The uninsured generally can’t be turned away from emergency rooms of hospitals, which is a very expensive way of addressing a lot of issues that could be handled through an office visit.

No one disputes that.

There is a shortage of doctors, nurses, and other health workers in California.

No one disputes that.

So why did it become the financial obligation of California to provide health care insurance to 1.7 million people not in this country legally?

It’s because that was the answer Newsom and the California Legislature had in 2020 to address the high cost of health care by reducing emergency rooms visits by those lacking legal status in the United States. They argued it was the “humane” thing to do.

No one disputes that.

There are a lot of reasons why healthcare is expensive in the United States: Litigation, lack of adequate facilities and healthcare personnel, and demands that no stone be left unturned regardless when it comes to patients in regards to treatment.

Meanwhile, the cost to insure patients via private insurance and Medicaid, keeps skyrocketing

The Unified States has a big problem.

And adding 1.7 million more people to insurance rolls that are not here legally doesn’t address that problem.

It just shifted the costs more effectively from hospitals unfairly burdened with treating illegal migrants in their emergency rooms to those here legally either through taxes they pay of private insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs they pay.

And in doing so, Sacramento made even a bigger mess of the health care crisis while at the same time triggering massive multi-billion-dollar state budget deficits.

A cynical person would think that Newsom might be a little bit too cozy with medical professionals.

After all, the two top ranking executives of the California Medical Association representing 50,000 physicians dined with Newsom in November 2020 when he made the French Laundry in Napa famous by dining without a mask.

Masks, by the way, he mandated everyone else wear in public places during the COVID pandemic on the recommendation of medical professionals.

You can debate whether the health outcome for illegal migrants has improved.

But in doing so, you nicely skirt the issue of whether that was really something that should be the business of Sacramento.

You can make a strong case that it should be and you can make a strong case it shouldn’t be.

However, the indisputable bottom line — whether you think Newsom walks on water or is treading it — is that the governor shifted the cost of illegal migrants’ healthcare from hospital emergency rooms to California taxpayers.

Given the state’s current spending plight, it is about as a brilliant political move as Newsom becoming known as California’s Unmasked Marvel.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com