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In a year hailed as the year of children's
health, Congress and Democratic leadership squandered this week a clear
opportunity to honor their commitment to immigrants and children's
health by stripping a provision that would have allowed federal health
coverage to low-income, lawfully residing immigrant children and
pregnant women. They did so even though the stripped provision
represents sound health policy and enjoys long-standing, nationwide,
bipartisan support. Immigrant children fell victim to politics once
again.
The National Immigration Law Center (NILC), which works to
promote and advance the rights and opportunities of low-income
immigrants and their family members, is bitterly disappointed that
Congress has failed yet again to address the health needs of immigrant
children and pregnant women. We urge Congress to do better.
Background
This week, Congress passed the Children's Health Insurance Program
Reauthorization Act of 2007 (HR.976), reauthorizing the federal State
Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), without removing
discriminatory barriers that prohibit federal coverage of lawfully
residing immigrant children and pregnant women. Specifically, Congress
rejected the Legal Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act provision
(ICHIA, S. 764, H.R. 1308), which would grant states the flexibility to
provide federally funded health coverage to low-income, lawfully
residing immigrant children and pregnant women. Health policy experts
and about a third of the states, through investment of their own funds,
recognize that providing preventive coverage to immigrant children and
pregnant women is cost-effective, decreases the number of uninsured
children, and reduces health disparities. Congress heard from governors
of both parties, health providers, the faith community, and
organizations from all fifty states that covering immigrant children
should be a priority in the 2007 SCHIP reauthorization debate.
In response, the House of Representatives included ICHIA in the SCHIP
bill that it passed earlier this year.[1] The Senate,
however, refused to do so despite bipartisan support by Senate Finance
Committee members and inclusion of ICHIA in initial proposals crafted by
senators of both parties.[2] The Senate leadership
rebuffed efforts to introduce an amendment to add ICHIA on the Senate
floor, suggesting that the omission could be addressed in a conference
committee that never materialized. Other attempts during the closed-door
negotiations and in the House Rules Committee to add ICHIA to the
compromise bill were also blocked by leadership. The continual rejection
of ICHIA was not the result of any sound policy considerations but the
casualty of failed congressional leadership, which allowed a few voices
to dictate how best to beat the president in a game of chicken.
The Present Situation
In a tune familiar to immigrants, many proclaim the compromise SCHIP
bill as the best legislation that can be negotiated under the current
circumstances. We recognize that the compromise SCHIP bill protects
coverage for millions of children and includes some improvements that
will benefit eligible immigrant children and pregnant women.
Nevertheless, there was an opportunity to do better. Instead, in a race
to the bottom, Congress surrendered to anti-immigrant forces by omitting ICHIA,
adding a gratuitous provision trumpeting the fact that nothing
in the bill helps undocumented immigrants, and extending to SCHIP the
same disastrous 2005 Medicaid citizenship documentation requirement that
has wasted millions of taxpayers' dollars and prevented tens of
thousands of U.S.
citizens from obtaining health care, all of which undermine the goal
of insuring more children. Yet despite yielding to anti-immigrant
pressures, Congress still has to defend the compromise bill against
inaccurate, unimaginative, predictable, anti-immigrant attacks.
The Democratic leadership now asks us to support the compromise bill
while acknowledging the injustice of failing, once again, to cover
immigrant children and pregnant women -- immigrants from working families
who pay taxes and "play by the rules." They promise to address immigrant
children's health in some unspecified, future legislation rather than in
the modest children's health bill now before them. This is an audacious
request given that the promise echoes several made before and not kept. It is not the first time that ICHIA has been stripped out of legislation
behind closed doors after winning heated committee and floor debates.[3] Despite ICHIA's hard-fought victories, long-standing bipartisan support,
and the persistent efforts among health and immigrant advocates over
many sessions, Congress has failed to honor its commitment to immigrants
and stand up to the anti-immigrant minority.
Another Chance?
The compromise SCHIP bill is expected to be vetoed by the president,
leaving a small window of opportunity for Congress to revisit its SCHIP
priorities. The point of contention in the SCHIP debate has little to do
with lawfully residing immigrant children and pregnant women, yet
Congress to date has refused to make the most modest effort to ensure
that these immigrants have access to care. House and Senate leadership
on both sides of the aisle have a moral obligation to correct this
indefensible omission, redress the discriminatory barriers, stand up to
anti-immigrant attacks, and finally honor its commitment. Immigrant
children and their families, whose health, well-being and opportunity to
succeed in life have long been jeopardized in the name of politics, can
no longer afford to wait.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
-
Sonal Ambegaokar, Health Policy
Attorney
- Dinah Wiley, Public Benefits Policy
Attorney
FOR MORE HISTORY ON THIS ISSUE, SEE THE FOLLOWING:
-
Bills
Affecting Immigrant Eligibility for Health, Nutrition Benefits Still on
Table (Nov. 28, 2000)
- Senate Finance
Committee Votes to Include Restorations of Benefits to Immigrants in
TANF Bill (July 15, 2002)
- Senate
Rejects Effort to Revoke the Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act
(July 15, 2003)
- ICHIA
Provisions Stripped from Medicare Bill Signed by President (Dec. 18,
2003)
[1]
The Children's Health and Medicare Protection (CHAMP) Act of 2007 (H.R.
3162)
[2]
Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and John Rockefeller (D-WV) included ICHIA
in their SCHIP proposal and Sen. Jeff Bingaman (R-NM) was talked out
of pursuing an amendment he initially offered in committee.
[3]
Most recently, immigrants were told to wait until the 2007 SCHIP
reauthorization for the passage of ICHIA after it was stripped from the
Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 during the last hours of conference
negotiations. Prior to that, despite winning heated committee and floor
debates, ICHIA was cut from a 2000 Medicare provider bill as well as a
2002 Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) reauthorization bill. In fact, Democratic leadership has long vowed to redress the damage to
which they contributed in 1996 by placing the arbitrary restrictions on
legal immigrants.
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