Malena Amusa

Why a 5-Year Ban on Immigrant Health?

Michael Moore isn’t the only one putting America’s faulty health-care/insurance system on blast this month.

A report published last week shows that many, many immigrant families with green cards and who are working, are still ineligible for Medicaid.

That is because of a 5-year ban on Medicaid eligibility the federal government put on immigrants entering the country after 1996.

On top of that, the federal government has let the brunt of enforcement fall in the hands of everyday service providers who have to play by the rules and turn away needy patients whose health care problems can’t wait.

Today, roughly 400,000-600,000 low-income immigrant children would be eligible for Medicaid if it weren’t for this arbitrary bar. Nationwide, 9 million children are uninsured.

YOU CAN READ THE STORIES OF THE TRIALS AND STRUGGLES HERE.

Posted at 10:33 AM, Jun 18, 2007 in Politics | Permalink | View Comments