Infectious diseases, as we’ve learned over the years, don’t check passports before sending them to the hospital. The coronavirus pandemic has made it clear that medical needs are completely unrelated to borders, nationality or immigration. We all get sick in the same way, regardless of where we were born. When your health takes a turn for the worse, you should rush to the doctor with the same level of urgency.
However, in Connecticut, our health policy considers immigration status and passports when seeking medical care. Access to insurance coverage depends on our place of birth and the type of documentation we can provide. As a result, tens of thousands of Connecticut residents are without health insurance.
These policies have serious consequences. For those who cannot get health insurance because of their immigration status, this means living in constant fear that unpaid bills will quickly pile up due to illness, pain or injury. More directly, high out-of-pocket costs for uninsured people often lead to them skipping routine care, including chronic conditions that are otherwise manageable, and may lead to health problems in the future. There’s also ample research to show that the effects can be much worse. It’s common today to avoid going to the doctor for fear of expensive bills, and we know the consequences.
However, the costs for uninsured people exceed the lack of coverage. Hospitals have an obligation to treat everyone who walks through their doors, regardless of insurance or immigration status. If a patient is uninsured and cannot cover their bills, that “uncompensated care” will be paid for by the state of Connecticut and the federal government. That’s over $800 million a year in Connecticut alone, and that number gets even worse when you factor in all the deferred care mentioned above.
Finally, it is clear that our health is not a personal matter, it only affects each of us as individuals. office has revealed that if someone is sick and cannot afford to go to the doctor, the effects extend beyond them to everyone in the community. We all share the cost of caring for the sick. Health and healthcare cannot be restricted for arbitrary reasons.health is community The deal; we share the risk and in the end we all pay the price.
Connecticut lawmakers are honored to recognize this is a problem and are taking steps to address it. The problem is that these steps are rather tentative and slow, and much more work needs to be done.
Two years ago, Congress expanded eligibility for HUSKY, Connecticut’s health insurance program for low-income families, to include undocumented children. After all, kids are in our state and it’s not their fault. They shouldn’t be chosen for bureaucratic reasons, so they should be insured. But for some inexplicable reason, lawmakers decided to combine this laudable decision with a strict age limit: children over the age of eight were exempt. There is no discernible difference between 7 and 9 year olds en route to
The General Assembly amended the bill last year to raise the age limit to 12 years old and allow children with HUSKY insurance to participate in the program until they are 19 years old. Unless, of course, you’re an undocumented 13-year-old, it’s a good move for everyone.
There is an obvious solution.Open it Husky everyone, no immigration or nationality restrictions. Immigrants pay taxes (we pay our taxes) like everyone else. Leaving them uninsured makes little sense, both for the direct impact of people lacking coverage, and for the money they end up spending to pick up the parts anyway.
A bill under consideration in the Capitol (which will be heard on Valentine’s Day) will close this gap, at least for children and young people. HB 6616 eliminates immigration status as an eligibility requirement for her HUSKY participants under the age of 26, ensuring that place of birth does not affect the health of children. It is imperative that this session, at least, this bill pass without an amendment to lower the age limit.
However, there is one final point that goes beyond the bill’s cost-benefit analysis. This is not just about public health, uncompensated health care and insurance premiums. It’s a matter of plain decency. we are together We should live together, care about each other, and care about each other’s health no matter what. It is wrong and immoral that a 14-year-old can be kicked out of a clinic because he was born on the other side of the border. Health care is a human right, so we need to fix it today.
