For Immediate Release
January 14, 2009
Bill Allows States to Eliminate Five Year Waiting Period for Legal Immigrants
SAN FRANCISCO - The Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) today applauded the House of Representatives for voting to re-authorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The House bill allows states to eliminate a five-year waiting period for legal immigrants to access the program.
"As we look at health care reform and how best to provide everyone with quality affordable health coverage, we have to focus on our children first," said Dr. Ho Luong Tran, president and CEO of APIAHF. "Allowing states to remove the five-year waiting period that bars legal immigrants from accessing SCHIP is a step in the right direction, and we urge the Senate to include the same provisions when it considers re-authorization."
"More than one in ten Asian American children do not have health coverage, and that number is higher for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. Since SCHIP was passed we have seen the percentage of our uninsured children drop by more than half, and eliminating this costly barrier will go a long way in further reducing the number of uninsured children in our communities," said Dr. Tran. "It's been proven that SCHIP greatly improves access to health care for all low-income children. Eliminating the five-year waiting period will allow legal immigrant children and pregnant women to access essential, cost-saving preventive care, rather than seek emergency room care when health problems become too severe to ignore."
APIAHF is a national advocacy organization dedicated to promoting policy, program, and research efforts to improve the health and well-being of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. President and CEO Dr. Ho Tran is a pediatrician and received her MPH focusing on Community Health Services from the University of Illinois School of Public Health. She helped to establish the Asian Health Coalition of Illinois and served as co-Chair of the Illinois Governor's Asian American Council.
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