DACA youth turned away by Medi-Cal

Maria Fernandez applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — a two-year reprieve from deportation — hoping to qualify for subsidized health insurance guaranteed under a state law. But she was turned away by a Medi-Cal clerk, who told her that undocumented people, even with DACA, aren't eligible. State officials acknowledged that the Department of Health Care Services had failed to issue new guidelines to county agencies on DACA eligibility for Medi-Cal, leading to hundreds of eligible applicants being turned away. "'I honestly haven’t wanted to go back after I was rejected,' Between a busy school schedule and work, Fernandez is hard pressed to find time to return to the county office and restart what she describes as 'not an easy process.'" Read more on The Know.