States Develop Entry to Inexpensive Non-public Protection for Immigrant Populations

By Justin Giovannelli and Rachel Schwab

The U.S. uninsured fee reached an historic low in early 2023, but tens of millions of individuals nonetheless lack complete well being protection. Immigrants are disproportionately prone to be uninsured, which reduces their entry to well being care and will increase their danger of incurring medical debt. This greater fee of uninsurance stems from systemic inequalities, together with authorized boundaries to inexpensive protection for noncitizens—particularly undocumented immigrants. Whereas state efforts to supply Medicaid-equivalent advantages to some populations of undocumented residents have helped increase entry to protection, many low- and moderate-income undocumented residents stay with out inexpensive medical health insurance choices.

In a current put up for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Level weblog, CHIR’s Justin Giovannelli and Rachel Schwab discover current state actions to fill this hole. The authors talk about how federally funded protection packages at the moment exclude many immigrants and element the distinctive obstacles confronted by undocumented immigrants. The put up then describes how 4 states are increasing entry to non-public protection for undocumented residents with incomes simply above the Medicaid eligibility threshold.

You possibly can learn the complete put up right here.