Many Immigrants Lose Health Coverage in Cost-Saving Move

Seattle Post-(Un)Intelligencer ^ | October 11, 2002 | Heath Foster

[Tancred]

More than 15,000 poor immigrant children and their parents have lost their health insurance because of a last-minute cost-saving measure adopted at the close of the 2002 legislative session.

Most of the newly uninsured are undocumented children concentrated in King, Pierce, Snohomish and Yakima counties. And children's advocates warned yesterday that they may soon start showing up in emergency rooms with neglected medical problems.

"The Legislature's promise to provide health insurance for these children has not been fulfilled, and as a result, we have thousands of kids who will be skipping immunizations and going without doctor's visits," said Jon Gould, deputy director of the Children's Alliance.

At the close of the session in March, in order to save $23 million, legislators voted to cut about 29,000 low-income immigrant families from free health insurance voluntarily funded by the state through its general fund.

But lawmakers set aside about $20 million to provide them with subsidized health insurance through the state's Basic Health Plan. The plan offers coverage to the poor at well below market rates.

Despite pleas from advocates, lawmakers refused to automatically transfer the families into the Basic Health Plan. That meant that all the immigrant families, who speak 21 different languages, had to reapply for health insurance in a laborious, multistep process. And much of the enrollment information was available only in English, Gould said.

By Oct. 1, when their existing state health insurance was cut off, only 39 percent had made the switch. Another 16 percent are in the process of applying.

Carmen Lopez and her 9-year-old son Cristian of Redmond are among more than 17,000 immigrants newly without coverage.

Lopez said she did send in the Basic Health Plan application she got in the mail, but never got a response from the state. An outreach worker at a nearby health clinic helped her figure out that she must pay a premium of about $60 a month for the coverage she once had.

But Lopez said she probably won't be able to make those payments.

"I think when Cristian is sick I will just have to take him to the clinic and pay whatever it will be," said Lopez, who also has a 3-year-old son who is a legal immigrant and qualifies for Medicaid.

Steve Wish, director of the customer support division with the state's Medical Assistance Administration, said letters were sent to the immigrants in 17 different languages urging them to make the transition. The state also worked closely with community and migrant health clinics to get the word out.

[Tancred]

Unbelievable.......

(My mother lives in Lewis County--I've heard it called the most heavily Republican county in Washington)

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

If they lost their coverage(at taxpayer expense)then the aliens better go home. By the way relate the flood of aliens in your area to the flood of aliens in say Lewiston Maine. Loading certain areas with maleable third worlders helps in manipulating the votes and provides a flow of funds to office seekers;i.e. taxpayer funds to the groups, money from the groups to the office seeker. Works every time.

[Feckless]

"start showing up in emergency rooms "

If government would do its job they would start showing up in emergency rooms in Mexico, El Salvador, Columbia, etc.
Instead we have liberal bureaucrats searching for ways to waste our tax dollars.

[Joe Boucher]

Stop it you're breaking my heart. The reason we can't accept the worlds masses is that we can't afford to provide them all the lifestyle and benefits and welfare we enjoy. Already a great number of workers here don't have insurance yet we are supposed to provide care for anyone that gets off the boat or wades across some river?
I work hard for my money and resent some govt. lackey taking it away to give to some slacker who didn't work for it. And I am very tired of hearing "but what about the children"? If you can't afford them don't have them. Your kids are your responsibility, not mine.

[Judai]

I had an operation at Harborview Hospital in Seattle
two months ago, and the clinic had 20-30 Muslim-garbed women of apparently East African origins. Where did they come from? They all had WELFARE COUPONs which gives them access to "Free" medical coverage.
I am so ready to close immigration until every last felon, illegal, and those that won't assimilate are gone.
Intolerable that we will let these America Haters come and destroy are society in a war of attrition.

[Black Agnes]

Ok, I have a question for all the illegal immigrant supporters on FR. Why, if these 'new immigrants' are such a plus to the country, is every region inundated with them going bankrupt & raising taxes through the roof? If they're such a net plus, wouldn't these areas be experiencing unprecedented success? If they're so socially conservative, why is it they don't seem to have a problem with stealing someone elses hard earned dollars in the form of services they don't pay for?...(previous socially conservative immigrants made it w/o handouts stolen from the current occupants...Italians, Irish, Polish, Germans...list goes on...)

[Black Agnes]

The globalists in the state department and higher want to destroy American sovereignty. No better way than to import a huge 5th column with no loyalty to anything but their next tax payer supported handout...

[taxed2death]

What do you think El Presedente' Jorge Bush will do about this?

[hosepipe]

Ah! Does everybody understand now why it's called the LEFT COAST...

[Black Agnes]

Probably send federal dollars to cover the difference and chide the locals for not opening their wallets further to support these nice 'family oriented' people's health care...

BOHICA American taxpayers.

[Judai]

I fear you are right. Our hopes for George Bush are sadly
watered down by his pandering to these groups of needy peoples and how about that FARM sic BILL! My Gosh I wonder how many $$ that sent into Archer/Daniels/Midlands' deep bulging pockets?
Oh Georgie, must you whore so, to be re-elected? No one that doesn't look good on TV (Sorry algore) and can't smooze like a Hollywood Agent will never be nominated for a high office ever again.

[FITZ]

The reason we can't accept the worlds masses is that we can't afford to provide them all the lifestyle and benefits and welfare we enjoy

Many Americans take a job based on the benefits offered besides pay. That's getting harder to do because of massive immigration with immigrants very willing to take less money and no health insurance benefits because the fully expect the taxpayers to provide that for them.

The immigrants have a choice to decline jobs that don't offer benefits, they don't want to suffer one iota for their poor choices.

[FITZ]

by his pandering to these groups of needy peoples

Pandering politicians of either party should be made to explain why we have to pay so much for the education and health needs of those they promise to amnesty. I'm tired of paying more for the health care of others than I do for my own family. We go without so others may have it all.

[Black Agnes]

I really wish that once, just once, one of these pandering politicos would take the side of the American taxpayer for a change. Just once. Course, they're all well moneyed elites that have their money stashed cleverly in tax loopholes.

[Black Agnes]

NO, you have it wrong. :) The reason Americans don't take these jobs is cuz they're *lazy*! Get it?

Seriously, unmitigated business-interest driven immigration in the last 1800's and early 1900's to keep wages down is how we got unions to begin with. All you people who think the latest crop of immigrants is helping to 'bust the evil unions' need to ask yourself *why* it is that the AFL-CIO supports the amnesty and current immigration policies...?

I expect union membership to grow considerably in the next 5-10 years...only this go-round the members won't even be Americans...

[MinuteGal]

You and I pay for health care through the nose, but it's a necessity for us and part of our responsibility to our families and to society.

Nobody cares that our monthly premiums are exorbitant except us. But the bleeding hearts anguish over the poor immigrants that lose health care or are unable to pay for it.

WHY pity them?

Health coverage or none, legal and illegal immigrants alike can obtain the most sophisticated health care for free once they learn how to work the system (which they learn how to do with amazing rapidity!).

So why should they pay high monthly premiums for insurance like we do?

Who are the stupidos here?

Leni

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Judai]

Don't get me started on Unions ...Why should these Luddite dockworkers that were striking to protect 100K clerk jobs; and these guys type with one finger.
To hold the country hostage for their desires when they are making in the top 125% of blue collar workers fails to make me think of them as anything but selfish.
The whole government needs to sunset most laws and streamline the way it does biz. Why can't the post office make money, and they don't have to pay taxes? Gov't union employees. They'd never make it in the real world.
And once any one gets into office you know the perks they have for life!
If only the Libertarians weren't so......adjectives fail me.

[Black Agnes]

Where did the bit about libertarians come from? I've never met a libertarian that supported unions...

[nanny]

"I expect union membership to grow considerably in the next 5-10 years...only this go-round the members won't even be Americans..."

I have posted this on other threads and folks just don't believe it - but the unions are courting these people right and left. This is fact. When they are 'made' citizens and are unionized maybe they will be paying taxes, and getting those union benefits and we will no longer have to support them. That is the only good thing I can see coming out of it.

But I wonder how the illegal-loving and union-hating folks are going to spin this.