Vulnerable Populations
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A Step Forward For Lawfully Present Immigrants Living in Poverty
It’s no secret that during last year’s open enrollment many applicants for health coverage in immigrant families faced major barriers to enrolling in marketplace coverage. One big problem was that lawfully present immigrants with income under 100 percent FPL—who are ineligible for Medicaid based on their immigration status but are eligible for premium tax credits…
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Why Does Florida Still Have one of Highest Uninsured Rates for Kids? What Can be Done to Help?
Earlier this week I released a brief and held a webinar with the Florida Philanthropic Network on Florida’s uninsured children. The brief provides an overview of the demographics of Florida’s kids and outlines some policy decisions that will impact Florida’s high uninsured rate in the future. It will come as no surprise to regular Say Ahhh!…
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The President’s Immigration Announcement: What Do Health Policy Wonks Need to Know?
Last Thursday, President Obama announced immigration reforms that will provide up to five million people with relief from deportation and work authorization. While the reforms will do much to alleviate the constant fear of separation that many immigrant families face, most people included in the reforms will not be eligible for federal health coverage affordability…
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How Could Executive Action on Parents Reduce the Number of Uninsured Citizen Kids?
Here’s something that most news stories on President Obama’s Executive Order probably are not touching on — protecting several million parents from deportation is likely to reduce the number of uninsured kids – the vast majority of them citizens. As child health experts, we have pointed out for years that reducing the number of uninsured…
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We Can Reach the Finish Line on Health Coverage for Hispanic Kids
Ensuring that every child in America has the protection of health care coverage is an attainable goal. Today, in partnership with National Council of La Raza, we released a 50-state analysis of health coverage for Hispanic children. Our analysis found that Washington, DC is just a step away from the finish line already with 99…
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Hispanic Children’s Coverage: Steady Progress, but Disparities Remain
The United States has cut the rate of uninsured children in half since 1997, due, in large part, to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). A combination of children’s eligibility expansions through these two programs, as well as state and federal efforts to conduct outreach and simplify enrollment in both programs, has led…
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Advocates File Civil Rights Complaint with HHS on Coverage Termination Day
Yesterday, on the day that 115,000 people who bought coverage in the federal marketplace lost coverage, the National Immigration Law Center filed two formal administrative complaints with HHS’s Office for Civil Rights alleging that the federally facilitated violated longstanding federal civil rights law and the Affordable Care Act’s anti-discrimination provisions. They request that OCR immediately…
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Overview of Immigrant Eligibility Policies for Health Insurance Affordability Programs
The Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, in partnership with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the National Immigration Law Center Presented in a Series of Assister Webinars Focusing on Coverage Eligibility and Application Process for Families that Include Immigrants sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Webinar 1: September…
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We Can Fix This, People! More than Half of Uninsured Parents Are Hispanic
New data zeroes in on a subgroup of uninsured adults not always studied: uninsured parents. An Urban Institute report released yesterday found that more than half (57 percent) of uninsured parents surveyed in March/June 2014 were Hispanic and more than one-third (38.4 percent) said their primary language was Spanish. While I know this does not…
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Spread the Word: Deadline One Week Away for Immigrant Communities Needing to Verify Marketplace Eligibility
Immigrant communities face a critical deadline on Friday, September 5: submit additional documentation to verify their citizenship or immigration status, or potentially lose health coverage through the marketplace at the end of September. Yesterday we helped sponsor a press briefing primarily for ethnic media to help spread the word and educate immigrant communities about the…
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Advocates Urge HHS to Improve Enrollment for Immigrant Families
Today, CCF joined more than 140 national and state organizations asking Secretary of Health and Human Services Burwell to work expeditiously to remove barriers that make it difficult for eligible immigrant and mixed status families to obtain health coverage. The letter focuses on 5 serious barriers that need to be resolved so that eligible individuals…
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Many Foster Youth Rely on Medicaid to Meet Behavioral Health Care Needs
If you have seen Short Term 12, an indie film darling making the rounds on Netflix, then you know the importance of behavioral healthcare for youth in foster care and those who have just aged out of foster care. The film follows Grace (Brie Larson) working at a group home for teenagers who are in…
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Seven Steps to Improve Enrollment for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Community
By Naomi Stark, Georgetown CCF Research Assistant The Affordable Care Act provided an enormous opportunity for coverage of many immigrant and mixed status families eligible for premium tax credits in the health insurance marketplace. However, due to a variety of enrollment barriers, many of those eligible for these critical benefits are unable to enroll. Action for…
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Serious Enrollment Gap for Limited English Proficient Californians
If you’re like me, you’re impatiently awaiting more data so that you can understand how immigrant families—many eligible for subsidies for health insurance for the first time—faired in open enrollment. A new paper from the Greenlining Institute, identifies major gaps in enrollment for immigrant communities and some ways to close them. In addition to using…
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Improving Enrollment for Immigrant Families Could Cut the Number of Uninsured Kids in Half
It’s hard to believe that the next open enrollment period is only 5 months away. As the federal marketplace and states work to fix enrollment challenges, it’s important to consider what groups are most likely to be uninsured and smooth their pathway to coverage. A study recently came out that makes it clear that enrollment…
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Health Coverage for Immigrant Children and Families? Two New Studies Support Moving Forward
Two new studies published in Health Affairs support state efforts to expand coverage for immigrant children and families. Coverage for immigrant kids and pregnant women In 2009, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act provided a new opportunity for states to receive federal funding to cover lawfully present low-income kids and pregnant women in Medicaid…
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The Expatriate Health Coverage Act: Like “Using a Bat to Swat a Fly?”
The National Immigration Law Center has said that the Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act of 2014 (H. R. 4414 as amended or “EHCCA”), which passed the House last week, is “like using a bat to swat a fly.” I agree that this analogy fits. The EHCCA professes to fix a problem with health coverage for…
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Crossing Into New Territory with 25,000 Newly Covered Kids
By Anna Strong, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families At Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, we’ve been working for many years to ensure that all children have health coverage here in our state. Our latest report, Crossing into New Territory: Kids’ Health Coverage in 2014, outlines the progress Arkansas has made in covering kids since…
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For DACA Grantees, Health Insurance is (Only) a Dream
By Dinah Wiley [Update: In August 2022, the Biden administration codified the DACA program in regulation. The regulation did not change health insurance for DACA grantees. For current information on DACA, visit the National Immigration Law Center.] We receive a lot of questions about the health insurance eligibility of non-citizens with a special Deferred Action status…
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Two States On the Path to the Basic Health Program
Both Minnesota and New York are on the path to setting up a Basic Health Program (BHP) that will provide more affordable coverage for low-income families than they may find on the marketplace. Minnesota passed BHP legislation that was signed into law in May 2013. In New York, BHP was included in the Governor’s budget…