Restrictions On SCHIP Enrollment Affecting Hispanics In Missouri
Missouri State Children’s Health Insurance Program
Even though many Hispanic immigrants inMissouri qualify for programs such as SCHIP, many remain uninsured, inpart because of concern about their immigration status, as well asfederal and state restrictions on their eligibility, the Columbia Missourianreports. Of the nearly three million uninsured Hispanic children in theU.S., 70% are eligible for SCHIP but do not apply because of languagebarriers or fear of deportation of other family members. CatherineMartarella, a program director for Citizens for Missouri’s Children,said, %26quot;A mixed-status family, where the child is here legally but theparent is here illegally, is not likely to apply for assistance.%26quot;
Inaddition, federal law prevents legal immigrants from applying forfederal benefits until they have been in the U.S. for five years. Whileconsidering the reauthorization of SCHIP in July, U.S. House lawmakersapproved an amendment, known as the Immigrant Children’s HealthImprovement Act, that would have eliminated the restriction. However,the amendment was not included in the final bill that passed inSeptember, according to the Missourian. President Bushearlier in October vetoed the bill, which would have reauthorized SCHIPand expanded the program to more children.
In Missouri, about20,000 of the 150,000 legal immigrants in the state are children thatwould be eligible for SCHIP if the rule were lifted, according to JoanSuarez, chair of the Missouri Immigrant and Refugee Advocates.
MissouriGov. Matt Blunt (R) in 2005 restricted eligibility for the state’sversion of SCHIP, requiring applicants to show that they could notafford private insurance at a rate 9% lower than the family’s income.State lawmakers recently attempted to reverse the restriction andinstead require families to prove they could not afford privateinsurance that is 3% lower than their income. According to the Missourian, enrollment in the state’s SCHIP has dropped by 70,000 since 2004.
"Unless we address these barriers, the insurance gap is going to grow,"Jennifer Nu’gandu, senior health policy analyst at the National Councilof La Raza, said. She added, "Congress has an opportunity to come backand rectify the mistake of leaving legal immigrant children out of thehealth care debate" (Ballenger, Columbia Missourian, 10/22). \t\t\t\t\t\t
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Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view theentire Kaiser WeeklyHealth Disparities Report,search the archives, and sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork.org/email. The Kaiser Weekly HealthDisparities Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of TheHenry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 2007 Advisory Board Company andKaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
By: Kaisernetwork.org – Wed, 10/24/2007 – 17:08
