Title: Immigrant Eligibility for Health Care Programs in the United States
Headings: Immigrant Eligibility for Health Care Programs in the United States
Immigrant Eligibility for Health Care Programs in the United States
Medicaid
Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
The Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Immigrants’ Access to Care
Health Reforms 2017
Additional Resources

Content: To effectively combat challenges in accessing healthcare, certain states have provided health care service information sheets to help immigrants better understand the health care options for which they are eligible. For example, North Carolina has fact sheets available for immigrants that list immigration statuses, examples of acceptable verification documents, and the varying levels of health insurance eligibility. These documents show the health insurance eligibility chart and makes it very easy to find the type of insurance a person may qualify to receive based on their specific immigration status. Minnesota, Illinois and Arizona have implemented community health outreach programs specifically for underserved, low-income immigrants to provide access to preventive care services. Illinois, for example, has an Immigrant Health Access program that assists with communicating with various health care providers, scheduling appointments, accessing available financial assistance and providing basic health education programs for underserved populations. Phoenix Allies for Community Health is a nonprofit organization that provides free health care services to those that are uninsured, catering to the unauthorized immigrant, refugee and working poor populations. Their services help to educate patients on various community health issues and offers certain services (such as bloodwork and EKGs) onsite, to save patients from taking time off from work to obtain these services at separate facilities. Additionally, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Washington and The District of Columbia have expanded their Medicaid programs to provides insurance to all income-eligible children, regardless of immigration status. These programs include services such as regular check-ups, immunizations, sick child doctor visits, prescriptions, vision and dental care, hospitalization, mental health and substance abuse services. For unauthorized immigrants (also known as undocumented or illegal immigrants), few options are available, usually limited to emergency services, charity care, or community health centers.