President Obama signs SCHIP into Law

This photo comes from our partners at Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM). SCHIP, or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program being passed by congress and signed into law by President Obama ensures that healthcare will be accessible to all children in the United States. Included in the law was also a provision providing health care for children of immigrant families and pregnant women. Read more at FIRM's blog, Standing FIRM.

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New Approach to Immigration Taking Root

This comes from our partners at the National Immigration Forum (www.www.immigrationforum.org). National Immigration Forum is the leading immigrant advocacy organization in the country with a mission to advocate for the value of immigrants and immigration to the nation.

For Immediate Release
February 3, 2009

Contact:
Katherine Vargas (kvargas@immigrationforum.org)
(202) 383-5987 or (202) 641-5198 (mobile)


Children’s Health Victory A Good Sign That A New Approach To Immigrants Is Taking Root

Washington, DC – On Wednesday, the House is expected to vote final passage for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill and President Obama is expected to sign it into law shortly there after. Among other things, the bill allows states to waive a five-year waiting period to extend health care insurance benefits to millions of legal immigrant children. It is the first piece of legislation directly related to immigrants and immigration that has passed this Congress and reached this President’s desk. The following is a statement by Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, a non-partisan pro-immigrant advocacy group in Washington.

Many legal immigrant children will no longer be required to wait five years to access health insurance and health care, but this victory is larger than that. Passage of SCHIP with the provisions for legal immigrant children is an indication that a new era is dawning in Washington. For more than a decade, Congress’ approach to legal immigrants has been mostly what we can deny them, take away from them, or erect as barriers to their success and full integration. We are overjoyed that a new page is starting to turn.

This year will see another fierce battle over immigration, including who is legal, who can earn legal status, and who can come legally in the first place. Ultimately, the coming immigration reform debate will be about what role immigrants play in our society; whether immigrants are seen as cogs in an economic machine or integral members of our communities, with families and futures we should support and honor. At the heart of it is whether we remain a welcoming country, supportive of the immigrants’ goal to be just as successful and productive as every other group of immigrants that has come to these shores. A child’s health and a parent’s peace of mind are a building block of success in American society.

The SCHIP bill marks a first step from the punitive to the practical. If the President and Congress continue to approach immigrants as partners with native-born Americans in the success of this country, then we are closer to the day when sensible immigration reform is crafted and enacted. This is a good sign that a fair and just solution to what ails our current immigration system is within our reach.

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Senate Passes Health Insurance for Children of Immigrant Families

Yesterday, SCHIP, or the State Children's Health Insurance Program, passed the U.S. Senate by 66 to 32 and will now be signed into law. SCHIP assists states in providing health insurance for families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to buy private health insurance.

Included in the bill was full provision for children of immigrant families. The passage of SCHIP with this provision is a great victory for immigrant families and immigrant rights advocates.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures:

“One in five children under age 18 (14 million) is either an immigrant or is a member of an immigrant family...and are more likely than those with U.S.-born parents to live in poverty and are less likely to have health insurance and to receive medical care.”

The lack of access to healthcare for the children in immigrant families means:

“that these children are " ... less likely to receive timely care for acute conditions (such as ear infections, injuries, or communicable diseases), less likely to have their chronic conditions (such as asthma or diabetes) diagnosed and appropriately managed, and less likely to receive preventive care." The lack of primary and preventive care is also potentially costly by allowing disease to become more serious and resulting in the increased use of hospital emergency rooms.”

The passage of the SCHIP bill yesterday is expected to change all that.

The bill didn’t pass without opposition from Republicans. National Public Radio reported on Tuesday that Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) and Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) opposed coverage for children of immigrant families without a five year waiting period.

The bill will now go on to President Obama’s desk for signature early next week.

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