Hillary Clinton, the current front-runner for the position of presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, joined in a heated televised political debate on Tuesday that largely centered on the state of California and the issue of providing undocumented immigrants in the United States with healthcare.
Clinton says that she supports undocumented immigrant minors being given health benefits by states and that undocumented immigrant adults should be able to purchase insurance via the Obamacare exchanges. “First of all, I want to make sure every child gets healthcare … and I want to support states that are expanding healthcare and including undocumented children and others,” Clinton claims. “I want to open up the opportunity for immigrants to be able to buy into the exchanges under the Affordable Care Act.”
Two other candidates ‒ former Virginia senator Jim Webb and Martin O’Malley, the former governor of Maryland ‒ also claimed that they support the idea of offering healthcare in some form to undocumented immigrants during the debate. Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who is widely seen as Clinton’s main competitor for the role of Democratic presidential candidate, has previously said that he believes everyone should have access healthcare, regardless of their immigration status.
Undocumented immigrants are currently unable to sign up for insurance via the Affordable Care Act and are part of a growing percentage of US residents without health insurance. California has been leading the way when it comes to policy discussions on the healthcare issue.