Hundreds testify urging expansion of Connecticut’s HUSKY insurance coverage for immigrants [Hartford Courant]

Josué Guzman still carries a $1,800 hospital bill for a tooth extraction.

As an uninsured father and construction worker, the 24-year-old told lawmakers Tuesday that the thought of suffering another ailment is a constant worry.

“I have many years ahead of me to live, work and take care of my daughter, who is only 1 year old and a U.S. citizen,” Guzman said via a translator. “Right now, my daughter is in poor health, and I’m here telling my story because this is a necessity. If I were going through a health emergency and I couldn’t get the care I needed because I don’t have insurance, what would happen to my daughter?”

A public hearing in the Connecticut General Assembly Human Services Committee Tuesday saw hundreds submit testimony on a proposal to extend the state’s Medicaid program to provide health care coverage to immigrants like Guzman.

If passed, H.B. 6616 would expand HUSKY medical coverage to all qualifying low-income residents under the age of 26, regardless of their immigration status by June 2024.

The bill, at the heels of two years of HUSKY expansions, is the latest push by advocates for the undocumented working to grant all people the right to health care in what they see as a life and death matter.

In the last two sessions, the General Assembly has extended HUSKY access to pregnant and postpartum women and children ages 12 and younger.

“It becomes more and more difficult to explain why two children in the same family have different rights to health care,” said Nika Zarazvand, a health care coordinator at the Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services. “I have to constantly answer the question of why some of my clients are eligible for HUSKY while others are not.”

Under the current legislation, children who currently qualify can keep their health care benefits until age 19, but those not grandfathered in will lack HUSKY access — a fact that H.B. 6616 aims to change.

Concerns about program growth largely come down to taxpayer costs.

William Gui Woolston, the director of Medicaid and the Division of Health Services for the Connecticut Department of Social Services, said that the department could not support HUSKY’s expansion.

Testifying on behalf of DSS Commissioner-Designate Andrea Barton Reeves, Woolsten said the governor’s proposed budget did not include funds needed to finance the program.

“While the department appreciates the bill’s intent to extend medical coverage to a greater swath of the uninsured population within the state, the department estimates that the cost to the state of extending coverage for this population would be at least $15 million,” Woolston said.

Woolsten additionally explained that the DSS does not yet know the cost or effectiveness of HUSKY’s current coverage of children ages 12 and younger of qualifying incomes, a program that launched in January of this year.

“Existing law indicates that the program can only provide assistance to otherwise eligible beneficiaries within available appropriations. The department does not yet know whether funds appropriated for the program in its existing format will be sufficient to cover all eligible individuals through the end of the fiscal year,” Woolsten said. “The Department believes any further expansion of the program is premature until there has been an opportunity to take stock of the program in its current form.”

Peter Hadler, the director of the DSS Division of Program Oversight and Grant Administration, said that the first month of the program saw 1,600 enrollees. Today, he estimates there are more than 2,000 participants in the program.

Hadler said that the DSS would be willing to work with the committee to evaluate available data and better understand costs and the implications of further HUSKY expansion as the session progresses.

Luis Luna, the coalition manager of Husky 4 Immigrants estimated that the expansion up to age 26 would cost the state $18.4 million.

He said the ultimate goal is to broaden coverage to all ages at a projected price tag of $83.6 million.

Despite these costs, advocates of HUSKY expansion say it would save hospitals millions in uncompensated care spending and the state millions more for reduced emergency care costs.

“The state of Connecticut must create a long-term plan to expand HUSKY access to our whole immigrant community,” Luna said. “We hope that we continue to expand coverage year after year, so that in the future, all low-income Connecticut residents can access medical care when they are sick or vulnerable, regardless of their immigration status.”

Luna said that it is particularly critical that 13- to 26-year-olds receive coverage this year.

“Research confirms that over and over individuals between the ages of 18 and 26 are still in a key state of development,” Luna said. “Unaddressed health issues from this period creates even greater health issues in adulthood, and young adults are less likely than any other age group to have career-based health insurance.

Bryan Chong, a New Britain resident, told legislators that he has not been to a doctor in years.

Chong, who moved from Hong Kong to Connecticut in 2014 as a high school student, resides in the U.S. under a federal Deferred Enforcement of Departure status, a classification similar to Temporary Protected Status.

Chong explained that his current job as a community organizer and gig worker does not offer health insurance. Due to his immigration status, Chong also fails to meet HUSKY guidelines.

“I have needed to be very careful to not fall sick or get injured. … When I have been sick, I have needed to self-manage and self-medicate with over-the-counter medications,” Chong said. “With health insurance, I would be able to do my advocacy and organizing work more effectively and not worry that any happenstance incident will put me in thousands of dollars of debt.”

Alison Cross can be reached at [email protected].

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