? We are committed to education and advocacy in support of eliminating all barriers to affordable, equitable access to healthcare for immigrants.
? We promote that healthcare is a human right, which should be available to all members of society, regardless of their status.
? We invite citizens and immigrants to work in solidarity for systemic change to achieve universal access to healthcare for all.
Join us in our efforts! We always welcome volunteers and interns to our staff, and we also invite any individuals or organizations to jumpstart their own advocacy and education efforts.
In pursuit of our mission, CIHJ pursues three avenues of advocacy and education. CIHJ's efforts to enable shifts in both public mindset and public policy toward immigrant equity in healthcare are grounded in the principle of solidarity, which informs its strategic plan to achieve systematic change through collaboration.
Since its inception, the Center has worked to develop a solidarity network of citizens and immigrants motivated to work in partnership toward the right to universal access to affordable and equitable healthcare for all. This national solidarity campaign hopes to gather more than 100,000 signatures; sign our Solidarity Pledge to add your name!
Since 1996, most lawfully present immigrants have been subject to a five-year waiting period before they are eligible to receive federally funded Medicaid; in 1997, the bar was extended to the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Now, a provision in the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) gives states the option to remove the five-year bar and cover lawfully present immigrant children and pregnant women. CIHJ is working to level the playing field for this population by urging states to exercise the CHIPRA option.
Recent Healthcare Reform: the Continuing Fight
Recent health care legislation has moved forward many facets of universal healthcare, but it fails to address key issues for its immigrants, both legal and illegal. It also fails to answer the question of what we do for our immigrants before 2014, the proposed beginning date for many of the changes demanded by the reform. CIHJ urges the community to continue fighting for immigrant healthcare justice in light of these holes in health care reform.