Obama administration reaffirms no healthcare support for undocumented immigrants

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: The Miami Herald

After President Barack Obama raised publicity in June with his declaration that 800,000 young undocumented immigrants could remain and work in the United States, his administration quietly issued a rule this week declaring that these immigrants can’t benefit from the healthcare reform law.

The Department of Health and Human Services released a rule amendment to clarify that the Affordable Care Act, which offers coverage to those “lawfully present” in the United States, did not apply to those mentioned in Obama’s June declaration.

The amendment means that the undocumented immigrants will not be able to join the Pre-Existing Condition Plan for high-risk patients and the healthcare exchanges being established to help people and small businesses obtain cheaper rates. The immigrants will also not be able to get into state-federal programs such as Medicaid, the health insurance for the poor, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

“This certainly is a substantial financial issue in places like Miami, New York City and Los Angeles,” said Alan Sager, a healthcare policy expert at Boston University. He called the ruling “a relatively minor administrative clarification, a screwing down of something that was already nailed down.”

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/30/2976776/obama-administration-reaffirms.html