Persons Residing Under Color of Law (PRUCOL)
PRUCOL is a public benefits eligibility category that refers to individuals who are in the U.S. with the knowledge of immigration services and are not likely to be deported. Before the adoption of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, people with PRUCOL status were eligible for Medicaid, but PRWORA eliminated their eligibility with the exception of emergency services.
Consideration for Deferred Action and Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and PRUCOL:
A student, who has received DACA status, is PRUCOL eligible. If they are eligible for DACA but have not applied, they are considered ineligible for PRUCOL unless they qualify as PRUCOL in some other way.
Students who are eligible but have not applied for DACA are not eligible for Medi-Cal. In general, they must have received DACA status to be eligible for full scope Medi-Cal.
AB 540 students are considered undocumented. The majority, but not all, may be eligible for DACA status which falls under PRUCOL. Other AB 540 students may have another type of immigration status that could be considered "lawfully present" under the federal rules or PRUCOL under Medi-Cal rules. For more information about PRUCOL, refer to the Department of Health Care Services.
Because there is a fine for those that do not enroll in health insurance (CA residents), DACA individuals are exempt from the health coverage mandate. Therefore, they will not be fined if they fail to enroll in health insurance.
