In Spring 2010, Congress passed and the President signed historic health reform legislation (for a more detailed summary of the legislation, click here) that will help make coverage affordable and accessible to as many as 32 million people ? many of whom have struggled to obtain coverage in the past. But the right to healthcare remains only a possibility until we do the work to ensure that each person?s dignity is upheld and healthcare is made available to every member of society.

Under the new law, lawfully present immigrants will be able to purchase coverage from new state-based health insurance Exchanges, set to begin in 2014, without a waiting period. They also will have the same access as U.S.-born citizens to premium tax subsidies to purchase this coverage. And a last-minute fix to the final bill ensured that low-income lawfully present immigrants ? who continue to be barred from Medicaid for five years ? won?t be priced-out of the Exchanges if they fall below certain income eligibility levels. The Center applauds these significant steps forward. But our work is not finished. The final health reform bill did not eliminate the five-year Medicaid bar for lawfully present immigrant adults. Until the exchanges are up and running, many low-income immigrants will continue to lack access to affordable health coverage during their first five years of residency, despite paying taxes at the same rate as citizens. And while states have had the option since last year to receive federal matching funds to cover lawfully present immigrant children and pregnant women under Medicaid and the Children?s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), currently only around 20 states provide this coverage.

Further, health reform legislation maintained current restrictions barring undocumented immigrants from receiving federal Medicaid and CHIP, and explicitly prohibited them from purchasing insurance from the Exchanges, even with their own money and without subsidies. That means an estimated twelve million persons, instead of benefiting from health reform, now face increased barriers to coverage and care. Undocumented immigrants are exempt from the federal mandate requiring most persons to obtain health coverage, but denying coverage to these members of U.S. society doesn?t mean they will not become sick. They will continue to rely on community health centers and emergency rooms to provide needed care.

The Center stands in solidarity with the millions of immigrants who continue to face major obstacles to quality, affordable healthcare. As federal and state implementation of health reform progresses, and as Congress tackles comprehensive immigration reform, CIHJ calls on the public and elected officials to support immigrant inclusion and the right to healthcare for all members of society.

For more information, check out the following helpful resources:

?How are Immigrants Included in Health Reform??, National Immigration Law Center (NILC), April 2010.

?Critical Things You Should Know About Health Care Reform,? National Council of La Raza (NCLR), 2010.