More Immigrant Children in U.S. Illegally to Receive Health Care
As an immigrant without legal permission to be in the country, Dolores was not eligible for full Medicaid coverage. When she got older, her mother,
Those precautions are no longer necessary. Last year,
"When it comes to covering kids here illegally, there aren't that many more states that are going to join that camp and a fair number of states that are definitely in the other camp," said
Still, advocates regard the victory in
The financial commitment for the state in enacting the law is considerable because it will not come with the federal Medicaid matching funds available to legal residents.
"It was an incredible testament to the commitment to human rights and children's rights that we made that financial commitment in a year when we had tough budget decisions to make," said
The bill, one of Democratic Gov.
The measure did draw some opponents, however.
"We have a state government that basically puts the rights of people illegally here above the rights of American citizens," said
One Million Children
In enacting the new law,
Twenty-five other states, including
But the bigger need, advocates for immigrants say, is for children without legal residency, whose family incomes are often low enough to otherwise qualify them for Medicaid.
A large chunk of them live in
Not all of those enrollees were completely new to Medicaid. Even before the law, immigrants without legal permission were entitled to "limited scope" Medicaid coverage, essentially for emergency medical services only. About 120,000 children were already enrolled in that program. They have now been rolled over to "full scope" Medicaid coverage along with about 80,000 new enrollees. Gov.
"These benefits give parents great peace of mind and a measure of financial security," said
Odeh acknowledged that parents in the country illegally might be reluctant to enroll their children in Medicaid out of fear that it could identify their families to immigration officials and subject them to deportation.
Families felt apprehensive about jeopardizing their immigration status if they signed their children up for the health coverage, a Children Now survey of medical providers who serve immigrant communities confirmed this year.
"I think it's a real sentiment given the rhetoric of [the Trump] administration," Odeh said. But he said immigration rights advocates are trying to reassure immigrant communities that information won't be made available to federal immigration officials and he hasn't seen evidence that parents are staying away from the program.
"I trust my community clinic, that they won't turn any information over to ICE," she said. "That's what I tell the people."
The Brown administration has given the same assurances, but Odeh said those promises may not be ironclad, given the climate in
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