The recently enacted CHIP reauthorization law includes a number of programmatic and financing changes that affect both Medicaid and CHIP. One of these changes is a new option, often referred to as “ICHIA,” that allows states to receive federal funds for providing Medicaid and CHIP coverage to lawfully residing immigrant children and pregnant women regardless of their date of entry.

On February 4, 2009, Governor Rell proposed eliminating a state-funded program that provides health benefits to nearly 6,000 individuals lawfully residing in the United States for less than five years. If Connecticut accepts the ICHIA option, not only will affected children and pregnant women retain health coverage, but also federal dollars will replace about one-fifth of state dollars currently paying for this program. If it terminates the program, most participants will become uninsured and lose access to basic heath services. The state will then have to pay for emergency care and safety-net providers may lose payments for services provided.

Under current law (prior to passage of CHIPRA 2009), most newly arriving LPRs are barred from Medicaid and SCHIP for the first five years after entry. After five years, LPRs are eligible for SCHIP, but their subsequent coverage for Medicaid becomes the state’s option. According to the limited data that are available, it appears that a noteworthy number of states had opted to provide Medicaid and SCHIP to LPRs during the first five years from solely state-funded sources.

This issue brief examines health insurance coverage for low-income citizen children whose parents are not citizens and some of the specific barriers to enrolling these children in Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. It is based on findings from the Kaiser Survey of Children’s Health Coverage, a telephone survey of parents conducted in 2007 to learn more about children’s access to coverage and care and the health care cost-related pressures facing their families.

Barring coverage for legal immigrant children and pregnant women jeopardizes community health while discriminating against future citizens, workers and family members. Restoring Medicaid and SCHIP coverage to these vulnerable populations will improve their health and strengthen their ability to contribute to the nation and economy.

To determine whether the reversal of the public charge rule of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which may have required families to pay for benefits previously received at no cost, led to immigrant children becoming increasingly reliant on public health insurance programs, the authors examined data from 1997-2004. Public health insurance enrollments and the numbers of uninsured foreign-born children in the United States increased. Low-income US-born children were just as likely as foreign-born children to have public health insurance coverage and after 2000, foreign-born children were more likely than were US-born children to be uninsured.

More than 12 million immigrants in the United States were uninsured in 2006, accounting for almost 27 percent of all uninsured individuals in the country. Immigrants accounted for 43 percent of the increase in the uninsured between 1994 and 1998, but 92 percent of the growth between 1998–2003, presumably because of PRWORA restrictions. Over the entire 1994–2006 period, immigrants accounted for 55 percent of the increase in the uninsured. The ranks of the uninsured are likely to grow as immigration continues to increase.

Federal law bars aliens residing without authorization in the United States from most federal benefits; however, there is a widely held perception that many unauthorized aliens obtain such benefits. This report focuses on the policy and legislative debate surrounding aliens’ access to federal benefits, including immigrant and citizenship verification. Citing GAO and OIG, CRS reports that there are few problems regarding false allegations of citizenship; however, there is evidence of inadvertent denials to citizens and uncertain fiscal benefits.

In comparing health insurance coverage for U.S. citizen children in all-citizen and mixed families in the fifteen states with the largest share of children in mixed families, the researchers found that insurance coverage is lower and state variation in coverage is higher for children in mixed families compared to children in all-citizen families. The main challenges for states include tackling uninsurance among all low-income children and addressing the very low rates of employer-sponsored insurance for all low-income children and for children in all mixed families, regardless of income. State policy options to address the needs of children in mixed families are also discussed.

This paper focuses on the estimated costs that certain state and local governments incur for providing various services—especially those related to education, health care, and law enforcement—to unauthorized immigrants. It also looks at the estimated taxes those individuals pay and at certain types of federal assistance that are available to states to help provide such services. Among the available estimates the Congressional Budget Office reviewed, the general consensus is that unauthorized immigrants impose a net cost on state and local budgets. However, no agreement exists as to the size of, or even the best way of measuring, that cost on a national level, with questions surrounding both the methodology and the available data.

An excerpt from the Guide to Immigrant Eligibility for Federal Programs, this table lists the state-funded programs that provide health coverage to immigrants who are not eligible for coverage under the federally-funded Medicaid program.

An excerpt from the Guide to Immigrant Eligibility for Federal Programs, this table lists the state-funded programs that provide health coverage to immigrants who are not eligible for coverage under the federally-funded State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

Recent immigrants seeking health care often face daunting encounters with fragmented, confusing, and oftentimes hostile system. This commentary highlights the issues and importance of securing care for immigrants.

As efforts to expand health coverage move forward, it is important to assess the needs of low-income non-citizen adults, who have a very high uninsured rate due to limited access to both private and public coverage. This brief analyzes their insurance options and the obstacles they face in obtaining coverage and receiving care.

This brief examines health coverage and access to care for low-income non-citizen children to provide insight into the challenges they face in obtaining health insurance and accessing care. Largely due to a high uninsured rate, low-income non-citizen children have very poor access to care, with many lacking a regular provider and going without preventive care.

Almost half of all immigrants are uninsured, a level that is about three times higher than native-born citizens. Because they lack insurance, immigrants face serious barriers to medical care and pay more out-of-pocket when they receive care. This paper summarizes key issues and research concerning immigrants’ access to private and public health insurance, and to health care in general.

Although immigrant families are just as likely as native citizen families to have a full-time worker, they are far less likely to have access to employer-sponsored health coverage. Despite this, employer-sponsored health coverage remains an important source of insurance for immigrant families since their eligibility for public programs is restricted. This primer examines the role of employer-based coverage for immigrants and the specific hurdles they face in obtaining coverage.

Immigrants face increasing challenges to securing health care coverage. They have less access to employer-sponsored insurance and face tighter restrictions on their eligibility for public programs. This fact sheet provides an overview of the current rules on immigrants’ eligibility for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

This report examines the health and well-being of children under 6 in immigrant families. The majority of these children are living in mixed-status families and over one-quarter have an undocumented parent. Fifty-six percent of young children of immigrants live in low-income families; 64% of foreign-born children live in low-income families. They have higher levels of economic hardship, fair or poor health, and are more likely to lack health insurance or a usual source of care.

A major challenge facing many immigrants is a lack of health insurance coverage. This primer provides an introduction to some of the issues surrounding immigrants and health insurance coverage and discusses the widening gap in overall health insurance coverage rates between low-income citizens and immigrants.