Healthcare Policy Issue Description- Access to Health Care for Immigrants

Healthcare Policy Issue Description- Access to Health Care for Immigrants

According to Budiman (2020), the USA has the largest number of immigrants globally. Data demonstrates that the U.S. has approximately 44.8 immigrants (Budiman, 2020). This represents about 13.8% of the total population. Budiman (2020) reports that about 10.5 million of this population are unauthorized immigrants, whereas 34 million are lawful immigrants. Immigrants face various challenges. Notably, they have inadequate access to health care services (KFF, 2022). This paper discusses access to healthcare by immigrants and the proposals to address the problem. Do you need urgent assignment help ? Get in touch with us.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (2022), immigrants are most likely to be uninsured, unlike the natives. Approximately 26 percent of lawful immigrants and 42 percent of unauthorized immigrants are uninsured compared to 8 percent of native citizens (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2022). Additionally, about 10 percent of children with one non-citizen parent are most likely to be uninsured compared to approximately 4 percent of children whose parents are citizens (KFF, 2022). Findings indicate that approximately 17 percent of children of authorized immigrants are uninsured, whereas 28 percent of children of illegal immigrants are uninsured (KFF, 2022). Lack of health insurance limits the access to affordable healthcare services by immigrants (KFF, 2022).

Various factors contribute to higher uninsured rates among immigrants. Unavailability of employer-sponsored coverage limits access to healthcare by immigrants (KFF, 2022). Findings demonstrate that despite immigrants being full-time workers, they lack access to employer-sponsored insurance (KFF, 2022). This problem is compounded by the findings that indicate lower income rates among immigrants compared with citizens. Findings demonstrate that approximately 44 percent, 39 percent, and 26 percent of unauthorized immigrants, legal immigrants, and citizens, respectively, earn low incomes (KFF, 2022). When employer-sponsored coverage is available, immigrants are unable to afford it due to their low-income levels (KFF, 2022). This limits their access to quality, affordable healthcare services, unlike the citizens.

Restrictions in the eligibility for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) limit healthcare access for immigrants. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid and CHIP Services (KFF, 2022). Additionally, immigrants with temporary protected status are ineligible for these services (KFF, 2022). Lawful immigrants are eligible for Medicaid and CHIP Services. However, some restrictions may impede full access. Legal immigrants are prequalified before having full access to Medicaid and CHIP (KFF, 2022). Additionally, qualified legal immigrants wait for 5 years after qualification to access and enroll in Medicaid and CHIP Services (KFF, 2022). These restrictions limit immigrants’ ability to access affordable coverage and quality healthcare services.

Restrictions in the Affordable Care Act market coverage limit access to health care for immigrants. Unlike lawful immigrants, unauthorized immigrants are restricted from purchasing the Affordable Care Act via marketplaces (KFF, 2022). Lawful immigrants are eligible for the Affordable Care Act market coverage. However, they are still uninsured. This is caused by factors such as health illiteracy, fear, and confusion (KFF, 2022). Findings indicate that the amendment of the immigration policy by President Donald Trump’s administration created fear and confusion among eligible legal immigrants (KFF, 2022). Consequently, they did not enroll in the Medicaid and CHIP programs. Healthy illiteracy contributes to the unawares of Medicaid and CHIP policies among eligible legal immigrants (KFF, 2022). By so doing, their ability to access healthcare services is impeded. Furthermore, cultural insensitivity impedes access to healthcare services by eligible immigrants (KFF, 2022). This includes language barriers and having different cultural and religious beliefs (Khullar & Chokshi, 2019).

Kaiser Family Foundation (2022) reports that immigrants were affected significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic than native citizens. COVID-19-associated complications increased healthcare needs, including healthcare costs (KFF, 2022). Increased healthcare costs reduced health coverage rates among immigrants due to their low-income levels. Additionally, immigrants had limited access to COVID-19 relief (KFF, 2022). Findings reveal that immigration policy changes during the pandemic impaired the ability of immigrants to seek healthcare services, including vaccinations (KFF, 2022).

What has been Proposed

The Health Equity and Access Under the Law (HEAL) bill has been proposed to increase immigrants’ access to health care services. This bill seeks to eliminate the policy and legal restrictions on health insurance coverage (Congress.gov, n.d.). It expands Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program to lawful immigrants (Congress.gov, n.d.). The bill was introduced by Representative Pramila Jayapal in the House of Representatives and Senator Cory Booker in the Senate House on 12^th May 2021 (Congress.gov, n.d.). This bill seeks to eliminate the 5-year waiting duration required for qualified immigrants for them to enroll in Medicaid and CHIP Services (Congress.gov, n.d.). Additionally, it seeks to eliminate the restriction for undocumented immigrants to access the Affordable Care Act via marketplaces (Congress.gov, n.d.). The HEAL bill seeks to avail healthcare coverage to individuals with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status (Congress.gov, n.d.). By so doing, the HEAL bill will increase access to healthcare services for both authorized and unauthorized immigrants (Congress.gov, n.d.).

The HEAL bill is currently at the Committee on Finance. The enactment of the bill into the law will be beneficial to immigrants. Lawful immigrants will benefit significantly from the HEAL bill. Elimination of current restrictions will allow timely access to affordable healthcare coverage. Accordingly, immigrants’ access to healthcare services will improve. However, additional efforts should be made to address existing challenges such as cultural insensitivity, health illiteracy, and language barriers among immigrants.

References

Budiman, A. (2020). Key findings about U.S. immigrants. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/20/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/

Congress.gov. ( n.d.). S.1660 – HEAL for Immigrant Families Act of 2021.117th Congress (2021-2022). https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1660

Kaiser Family Foundation. (2022). Health Coverage of Immigrants. https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/fact-sheet/health-coverage-of-immigrants/#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20lawfully%20present%20immigrants,status%20before%20they%20may%20enroll.

Khullar, D., & Chokshi, D. A. (2019). Challenges for immigrant health in the USA—the road to crisis. The Lancet, 393(10186), 2168–2174. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30035-2

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Provide an explanation of the issue:
What is the issue? Why is it important? Why is it of interest to you? (If it’s not of interest, choose a different topic!)
What has been proposed or attempted to address the problem, and by whom?

Healthcare Policy Issue Description- Access to Health Care for Immigrants

Focus on the issue. (If you identify a specific bill addressing the issue, you can cite and discuss it, but don’t focus only on the bill—focus on the issue). In this section, use HEAL Bill that was proposed and is currently pending but hasn’t been passed yet.
Your paper should be no more than 3 of text, double-spaced, and written according to APA format. (For this assignment, you do not need to include an abstract).
Include at least three sources. These do not need to be peer-reviewed journal articles, but they should come from an authoritative source. (Please do not cite Wikipedia, a personal blog, or a social media post).
This paper should serve as a starting point for your final paper.
Don’t worry if you don’t know yet about the policy process—i.e., about the workings of legislation, regulation, or court decisions. That will come later. For now, focus on the issue.