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Persons Residing Under Color of Law

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.