Third-year resident physician Teresa Elmore at Yale New Haven Health remembers meeting a mother who came into her clinic crying with her newborn, worried about financial struggles.
According to Elmore, the mother had limited access to resources due to her immigration status.
“It got to the point where one of my attendings had said, ‘Well, maybe you should suggest that she could just enter a church and just ask for help that way,’” Elmore said. “That shouldn't be the case in Connecticut.”
Patients like Elmore’s prompted her to sign a joint letter asking Connecticut legislators to ensure healthcare coverage solutions include all residents, regardless of immigration status. Over 500 healthcare providers and 30 organizations signed the letter that the immigrant-led coalition, HUSKY 4 Immigrants, put together. Coalition members and healthcare workers hand-delivered the letter to several state leader offices at the State Capitol Tuesday.
Right now, Connecticut state-run healthcare programs cover residents ages 15 and under, regardless of immigration status. But recent federal funding cuts that put healthcare coverage at risk, such as the policies under H.R. 1., have been pushed by Republican lawmakers in Washington.
State Republicans have expressed concerns about Connecticut’s push to fund state-administered programs like HUSKY Health that provide coverage to undocumented residents ages 15 and under.
Republican leaders Vincent Candelora and Stephen Harding have condemned these kinds of funding proposals, saying that lawmakers should be honest about the costs with legal residents and that these costs are really an attempt from Democrats to “fund their progressive agenda.”
That’s why Dr. Leonela Villegas, a pediatric nephrologist in Hartford, said healthcare providers like her want lawmakers to continue safeguarding the supports currently in place, such as the healthcare funding for undocumented residents ages 15 and under.
“Also to make sure that we're including all of our community members, irrespective of their immigration status, in the solutions that they're creating for these health coverage problems that we have right now,” Villegas said.
Three bills at the focus
HUSKY 4 Immigrants Director Katherine Villeda said the point of the letter is simple: “We support these policies. We want to see them happen. The right way to make them happen is to make sure that all Connecticut residents, regardless of immigration status, will benefit from them if they pass.”
One of the bills, S.B. 3, would create an affordable healthcare trust fund that would mitigate the impact of federal cuts to healthcare premium subsidies.
The bill specifies that when a federal regulation is enacted that may significantly impact federal funding levels, program enrollment, and eligibility requirements for the state-funded HUSKY Health program, then the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management must send written notice and recommendations to preserve access for eligible persons.
The bill does not, however, have specific language regarding whether this trust fund would provide increased access to affordable healthcare to those that are not eligible due to their immigration status, which is what advocates are asking from lawmakers to include.
Another bill, S.B. 401, would create a state-funded Bridge Program for healthcare, food, and housing benefits to those at risk of losing these assistance resources on a federal level.
Currently, the bill defines “vulnerable persons” as veterans, homeless or at-risk homeless persons, adults diagnosed with autism, young adults aging out of foster care, and middle-aged people at risk of losing these resources.
The letter emphasizes in italics that the bridge program “must include all residents at risk,” citing specifically asylees, refugees, various visa-type holders and others who have been excluded to coverage solely due to immigrant status.
Villeda said these legislative measures are worth supporting, but Gov. Ned Lamont can make them stronger.
“He's doing great work, and he needs to be pushed to really be more considerate of the whole population,” Villeda said.
Healthcare providers also voiced their support for S.B. 91 in the letter.
The bill would create protected areas where federal immigration enforcement would not be allowed, such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship. The Trump administration revoked similar federal guidance.
Saif Benjamin Huaracha Cespedes was pushing for health equity as a 19-year-old Make the Road Connecticut member. He said more youth need to push for healthcare for all.
“It’s the adults who are having the critical rush to the emergency room, and we need to stop or prevent that, and it starts with the youth,” Huaracha Cespedes said. “It is not just our parents’, but our job, to shape the next future.”
