Progress on Health Insurance Reform

I apologize for not blogging lately - it seems that I got caught up in life and have clearly missed on some great blogging materials. For one - Health Care Reform!!

Over the past few weeks - Health Care Reform has been exceedingly discussed (as should be) everywhere. Recently, SAALT provided a great summary of the update news...

Over the past few weeks, there have been numerous developments in health insurance reform. Below is a quick rundown of what has happened recently in Congress and the impact on immigrants living in the US.

• House of Representatives: The House of Representatives have merged three bills developed by various committees in the chamber. On Saturday, November 7th, the House passed its version of health reform which includes the public option; prevents insurance companies from discriminating based on gender or health status; expands Medicaid eligibility; prioritizes preventative care; allows undocumented immigrants to participate in the health insurance exchange by using their own money; and increases access to culturally and linguistically appropriate health services. In addition, the bill also prohibits public money from being spent on plans covering abortion, even if paid for with private premium dollars.
• Senate: Two Senate committees, the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) and Finance Committees, have developed their versions of reform. The Senate is expected to start debate sometime next week with a possible vote in December.

None of the bills currently include any provisions that would life the 5-year waiting period for legal immigrants to become eligible for Medicaid and CHIP. Another issue affecting immigrants being considered is whether to impose additional verification requirements on immigrants in order to access the health care system.