Victory: Immigrant Kids Included in SCHIP

Posted 01/29/09 at 11:53pm

Victory: Immigrant Kids Included in SCHIP

Happy SCHIP Baby BREAKING: SCHIP just passed out of the U.S. Senate. Thanks to all of your faxes and phone calls, the kids health bill now moves on to be signed into law with the provisions for lawfully-present immigrant children firmly intact. All four hard-line immigration amendments were voted down by a voice vote this week.

The New York Times reports:

One of the most significant sections of the child health bill would allow states to use federal money to cover children and pregnant women who are legal immigrants. Under existing law, legal immigrants are generally barred from Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program for five years after they enter the United States.

"The bill would end an inequity that we have been trying to eradicate for more than a decade," said Jennifer M. Ng'andu, a health policy specialist at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic rights group.

As we reported in, "GOP Hispanic Outreach Team Locked in Closet During SCHIP Debate," many Republican Senators put forward amendments this week to try to poison the bill's passage by forcing a lengthy and heated debate about immigration:

As reported by National Public Radio today, Sen. Ensign and other Republicans are voicing strong opposition to provisions in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill that would allow legal immigrant children to access health care without a five year waiting period. His colleagues, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), have already filed amendments to gut the provisions.

While all of these, and a host of other, extreme amendments failed, the SCHIP amendment process should be an "aha moment" for the new Congress. It now serves as an illustration of how our Congressional Representatives will be forced to fight a succession of painful proxy-battles over immigration in the absence of a clear leadership strategy to get comprehensive immigration reform done early and well.

By Jackie Mahendra
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SCHIP just passed out of the U.S. Senate. Thanks to all of your faxes and phone calls, the kids health bill now moves on to be signed into law with the provisions for lawfully-present immigrant children firmly intact.c

10-24-09 By online games(USA)

One of the most significant sections of the child health bill would allow states to use federal money to cover children and pregnant women who are legal immigrants.I like that idea very much.

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10-28-09 By job search

Really nice post,thanks for sharing….

11-30-09 By Free online games(U.S.A.)

A brim making its way finished Legislature to supply more low-income children with health-insurance coverage could spell financial reach for scores of hospitals owned by physicians.