Federal Responsbility for Immigrant Health Act Introduced

IMMIGRANTS & PUBLIC BENEFITS

Health Care

FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR IMMIGRANT HEALTH ACT INTRODUCED
Immigrants' Rights Update, Web Edition, May 10, 2002

On May 2, 2002, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill that would expand low-income immigrants' access to health care. Sponsored by Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), John McCain (R-AZ), Robert Torricelli (D-NJ), and Jon Corzine (D-NJ), the "Federal Responsibility for Immigrant Health Act" (FRIHA), S. 2449, combines several important proposals that had previously been under consideration.

Under current law, states can obtain federal Medicaid reimbursement only for emergency medical services (including labor and delivery) provided to immigrants who are ineligible for "full-scope" Medicaid. The denial of preventive and primary health care forces many immigrants to defer treatment for chronic or preventable conditions until they have progressed to the emergency stage. The FRIHA would expand the "emergency Medicaid exception" to provide Medicaid reimbursement for pregnancy-related services, including prenatal and family planning services, and testing and treatment of communicable diseases. The bill would also expand the definition of an emergency to include chemotherapy, dialysis, and services necessary to prevent an emergency.

The 1996 welfare law included a provision that attempted to restrict states' ability to use their own funds to provide certain state or local public benefits, including most nonemergency health services, to undocumented immigrants. The provision required state legislatures to pass a law, after the welfare law's Aug. 22, 1996 effective date, expressly stating their intention to provide these benefits to undocumented persons. (Ed.'s note: A number of legal scholars have determined that this provision amounts to an unconstitutional interference in the governance of the states.) The FRIHA would exempt all state and local health benefits from this provision, confirming that states need not pass new laws to continue providing these services. The bill also would allow states to waive Medicaid residency requirements for persons who entered the U.S. on nonimmigrant visas as well as immigrants who were paroled into the United States.

Finally, the bill would expand federal funding for emergency services that hospitals and related providers deliver to undocumented persons outside of the Medicaid program. The bill accomplishes this by reauthorizing funding, which the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 provided between fiscal years 1998 and 2001, for fiscal years 2003 to 2007, and increasing the amounts from $25 million to $50 million per year. Funds would be allocated to the 15 states with the highest percentage of undocumented persons, based on Immigration and Naturalization Service data.