Title: Undocumented Shouldn't Mean Uninsured - CBS News
Headings: Undocumented Shouldn't Mean Uninsured
Undocumented Shouldn't Mean Uninsured
Trending News

Content: In 2000, a study from Health Affairs found that less than 1 percent of undocumented immigrants "cited obtaining social services as the most important reason for immigrating." But, although its foundation has rotted, the policy still stands, setting the tone of the current debate: If we don't provide publicly funded health care even to some legal immigrants, why extend it to illegal ones? There are currently 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States - the majority of whom are uninsured. Among all immigrants, both documented and undocumented, less than 40 percent receive employer-sponsored coverage. The only federal health care program that covers undocumented and newly arrived legal immigrants is known as "emergency Medicaid." Under this program, the government will pay for emergency hospital care for the pregnant, elderly, and disabled, and for children or the parent of a child. ( Although what, exactly, qualifies as an "emergency" is ambiguous: The federal government recently informed New York state that it would no longer fund chemotherapy.) Those who do not qualify for emergency Medicaid must pay for their treatment out of pocket, or the hospital must write it off as uncompensated care for which it should eventually be reimbursed, at least in part, by the federal government.