A growing number of states are opening taxpayer-funded health insurance programs to immigrants, including those living in the U.S. without authorization, even as Republicans assail President Joe Biden over a dramatic increase in illegal crossings of the southern border.
Eleven states and Washington, D.C., together provide full health insurance coverage to more than 1 million low-income immigrants regardless of their legal status, according to state data compiled by KFF Health News. Most aren’t authorized to live in the U.S., state officials say.
Enrollment in these programs could nearly double by 2025 as at least seven states initiate or expand coverage. Starting this month, Republican-controlled Utah is covering children regardless of immigration status, while New York and California will widen eligibility to cover more adults.
“These are kids, and we have a heart,” said Utah state Rep. Jim Dunnigan, a Republican who initially opposed his state’s plan to cover children lacking legal status but relented after compromises including a cap on enrollment.
There are more than 10 million people living in the U.S. without authorization, according to estimates by the Pew Research Center. Immigrant advocates and academic experts point to two factors behind state leaders’ rising interest in providing health care to this population: The pandemic highlighted the importance of insurance coverage to control the spread of infectious diseases; and some states are focusing on people without legal status to further drive down the country’s record-low uninsured rate.
States have also expanded coverage in response to pleas from hospitals, lawmakers say, to reduce the financial burden of treating uninsured patients.
All states pay hospitals to provide emergency services to some unauthorized residents in emergency rooms, a program known as Emergency Medicaid. About a dozen states have extended coverage for only prenatal care for…
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