Potential Effects of Public Charge Changes on Health Coverage for Citizen Children
Issue Brief
The median Medicaid/CHIP eligibility level for children across states is 255% FPL as of January 2018. Tricia Brooks, Karina Wagnerman, Samantha Artiga and Elizabeth Cornachione, Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility, Enrollment, Renewal, and Cost Sharing Policies as of January 2018: Findings from a 50-State Survey, (Washington, DC: Kaiser Family Foundation, March 2018), https://www.kff.org/medicaid/report/medicaid-and-chip-eligibility-enrollment-renewal-and-cost-sharing-policies-as-of-january-2018-findings-from-a-50-state-survey/.
Similar criteria would also be applied to people seeking to extend or change their temporary nonimmigrant status in the U.S.
Oscar C. Gomez, Liberty Day, and Samantha Artiga, Connecting Eligible Immigrant Families to Health Coverage and Care: Key Lessons from Outreach and Enrollment Workers, (Washington, DC: Kaiser Family Foundation, October 2011), https://www.kff.org/disparities-policy/issue-brief/connecting-eligible-immigrant-families-to-health-coverage/ and Samantha Artiga and Petry Ubri, Living in an Immigrant Family in America: How Fear and Toxic Stress are Affecting Daily Life, Well-Being, & Health, (Washington, DC: Kaiser Family Foundation, December 2017), https://www.kff.org/disparities-policy/issue-brief/living-in-an-immigrant-family-in-america-how-fear-and-toxic-stress-are-affecting-daily-life-well-being-health/.
Findings show that recent immigration policy changes have increased fears and confusion among broad groups of immigrants beyond those directly affected by the changes. See Samantha Artiga and Petry Ubri, Living in an Immigrant Family in America: How Fear and Toxic Stress are Affecting Daily Life, Well-Being, & Health, (Washington, DC: Kaiser Family Foundation, December 2017), https://www.kff.org/disparities-policy/issue-brief/living-in-an-immigrant-family-in-america-how-fear-and-toxic-stress-are-affecting-daily-life-well-being-health/. Similarly, earlier experiences show that welfare reform changes increased confusion and fear about enrolling in public benefits among immigrant families beyond those directly affected by the changes. See. Neeraj Kaushal and Robert Kaestner, “Welfare Reform and Health Insurance of Immigrants,” Health Services Research,40(3), (June 2005), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361164/;
Neeraj Kaushal and Robert Kaestner, “Welfare Reform and Health Insurance of Immigrants,” Health Services Research,40(3), (June 2005), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361164/; Michael Fix and Jeffrey Passel, Trends in Noncitizens’ and Citizens’ Use of Public Benefits Following Welfare Reform 1994-97 (Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, March 1, 1999) https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/69781/408086-Trends-in-Noncitizens-and-Citizens-Use-of-Public-Benefits-Following-Welfare-Reform.pdf; Namratha R. Kandula, et. al, “The Unintended Impact of Welfare Reform on the Medicaid Enrollment of Eligible Immigrants, Health Services Research, 39(5), (October 2004), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361081/; Rachel Benson Gold, Immigrants and Medicaid After Welfare Reform, (Washington, DC: The Guttmacher Institute, May 1, 2003), https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2003/05/immigrants-and-medicaid-after-welfare-reform.
Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of March 2017 Current Population Survey data.
Julia Paradise, Data Note: Three Findings about Access to Care and Health Outcomes in Medicaid, (Washington, DC: Kaiser Family Foundation, March 23, 2017), https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/data-note-three-findings-about-access-to-care-and-health-outcomes-in-medicaid/
SNAP Helps Millions of Children, (Washington, DC: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 2017), https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/snap-helps-millions-of-children, “About WIC-How WIC Helps,” United States Department of Agriculture, Women, Infants and Children (WIC), https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/about-wic-how-wic-helps, accessed May 10, 2018; and Chuck Marr, et al, EITC and Child Tax Credit Promote Work, Reduce Poverty, and Support Children’s Development Research Finds, (Washington, DC: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, October 2015), https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/eitc-and-child-tax-credit-promote-work-reduce-poverty-and-support-childrens.