Advocates push for expansion of health care coverage regardless of immigration status – Times Union
ALBANY — Immigrant advocacy groups have launched a campaign to push Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature to include a $345 million proposal to expand health care coverage to low-income undocumented New Yorkers.
The push to include the “Coverage4All” legislation in the state budget features two billboards, one near the state Capitol and one in the Westchester County district of Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
“The pandemic has made clearer than ever the deadly consequences of so many New Yorkers being forced to live without health insurance,” Theo Oshiro, co-executive director of Make the Road New York, said in a statement.
The proposed changes to the state’s insurance coverage policy is for New Yorkers with income up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level and are excluded specifically because of their immigration status.
A joint report by the Community Service Society and the Citizens Budget Commission estimates the change would lead to 46,000 new enrollees — many of them undocumented immigrants — at a cost of $345 million, which accounts for $316 million in savings from spending through emergency Medicaid.
There are about 245,000 New Yorkers who are currently ineligible for public insurance because of their immigration status, according to the report, with 154,000 of them uninsured. In total, about 1 million New Yorkers are uninsured.
“Narrowing the coverage gap is vitally important and would greatly benefit the health and finances of newly insured New Yorkers,” the report reads.
The advocates leading the way on the budget request point out that undocumented New Yorkers were often on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic and held jobs deemed by the government as essential, but then lacked access to health care.
The change would be a step toward ensuring “every immigrant New Yorker can access affordable health coverage to keep their families strong and ensure New York State’s ongoing economic recovery,” Murad Awawdeh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement.
The coalition is also supported by the New York Conference of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, the health insurance company.
Other states have offered similar legislation. Earlier this year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom included a $2.2 billion proposal to provide access to health insurance to the state’s 700,000 undocumented residents without access to public insurance.
Although there is a budget surplus for this coming year based on federal cash from the pandemic, Hochul has pledged to spend it on one-time and not recurring costs, like health care, and put some of other money toward a rainy day fund.
