September 20, 2002
Dear Senator,
The undersigned organizations urge you to support the Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act (S. 582), which would restore Medicaid and SCHIP benefits to lawfully present immigrant children and pregnant women. The Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act was included in the Finance committee-passed Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) reauthorization bill, which may come to the Senate floor later this month.
As you know, federal law currently places a five-year ban on federal Medicaid and SCHIP coverage for legal immigrant children and pregnant women who arrived on or after August 22, 1996. We believe that it is a mistake to deny states the ability to provide Medicaid or SCHIP to lawfully present immigrant children and pregnant women because of their date of entry. This legislation would give states flexibility by restoring the option of covering lawfully present children and pregnant women who are currently subject to the five-year bar.
As states’ financial problems continue, this prohibition on federal funding will disproportionately and unfairly impact the budgets of states such as Florida, Texas, Illinois, New York, and California that have large immigrant populations, as well as states such as Iowa, Utah, and North Carolina which have fast-growing immigrant populations. The National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislators as well as every major state and local government organization has endorsed this policy change.
Without adequate health coverage, immigrant children are likely to develop health complications that could have been prevented. Similarly, it is arbitrary to deny needed prenatal care to lawfully present pregnant women simply because they arrived after a certain date. From an economic and health perspective, the benefits of investing in prenatal care are well established.
As the Senate considers reauthorization of the TANF program as well as other health-related measures, we urge you to support lifting this ban on federal funding. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association on Mental Retardation
American Friends Service Committee
Ascension Health
Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Association for Health Center Affiliated Plans (AHCAHP)
Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs
Catholic Charities USA
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Children’s Defense Fund
Church Women United
Families USA
Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quaker)
International Union, UAW
Los Angeles County, California
Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, ELCA
March of Dimes
Migrant Legal Action Program
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Association of Children’s Hospitals
National Association of Community Health Centers
National Association of County Behavioral Health Directors
National Association of Counties
National Center on Poverty Law
National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
National Council of La Raza
National Education Association
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association
National Health Law Program
National Immigration Forum
National Immigration Law Center
National Mental Health Association
National Partnership for Women and Families
NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
RESULTS
Welfare Law Center
