The Time Is Now - Tell President Obama to Lift Bans on Health Care for Lawfully Present Immigrants
Access to quality and affordable health care is not a privilege, but a basic human right.
Yet right now too many Americans are being denied health care because of damaging federal regulations that ban low-income and young people from affordable health insurance.
President Obama 's implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has transformed lives by keeping families together and letting DREAMers fully contribute to their communities and our nation without the constant threat of deportation.
Alarmingly, though, this same community has been barred from healthcare access.
Immigrant youth, women. and families work hard and pay taxes, but are locked out from participating in the health care system they already pay into. These restrictions are particularly harmful for immigrant Latinas living in rural or underserved areas, and for LGBTQ Latino/as, who already face added barriers to getting the health care they need.
When more of us have health coverage, our communities are healthier and our economy is stronger. We can 't keep allowing lawfully present immigrants to be locked out of health care access.
Take action today: Tell President Obama to lift bans on healthcare for DREAMers!
Yet right now too many Americans are being denied health care because of damaging federal regulations that ban low-income and young people from affordable health insurance.
President Obama 's implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has transformed lives by keeping families together and letting DREAMers fully contribute to their communities and our nation without the constant threat of deportation.
Alarmingly, though, this same community has been barred from healthcare access.
Immigrant youth, women. and families work hard and pay taxes, but are locked out from participating in the health care system they already pay into. These restrictions are particularly harmful for immigrant Latinas living in rural or underserved areas, and for LGBTQ Latino/as, who already face added barriers to getting the health care they need.
When more of us have health coverage, our communities are healthier and our economy is stronger. We can 't keep allowing lawfully present immigrants to be locked out of health care access.
Take action today: Tell President Obama to lift bans on healthcare for DREAMers!
Dear President Obama:
Thank you for your commitment to reforming immigration policies under your existing executive authority in light of Congress's failure to pass immigration reform. We applaud your leadership in working to achieve comprehensive immigration reform, and your action to extend relief from deportation to some families while we wait for Congress to act. Unfortunately, those granted relief through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and recently announced administrative relief continue to be locked out of affordable healthcare programs, to the great detriment of our health and our communities. The time is now to rescind current barriers to affordable health coverage and care for those granted administrative relief under new and existing programs. Any administrative relief program ought to treat all persons eligible for relief and work authorization as lawfully present for all purposes, including for the purposes of eligibility for public and affordable health coverage programs.
[Your comment will be added here]
DACA has transformed the lives of those individuals who, under the program, have been able to stay with their families and more fully contribute to their communities and our nation without the constant threat of deportation. Yet, we are deeply concerned with the restrictions on access to affordable health coverage and care imposed on DACA recipients. Due to this administration's changes to existing federal rules, those who have qualified for DACA are excluded from affordable health insurance options available to others with deferred action. These changes, issued as federal regulations and guidance in August of 2012, generally deny DACA recipients the opportunity to participate in vital health coverage programs their tax dollars support, including federal Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program in about half the states, and the Affordable Care Act.
These federal restrictions are harmful to immigrant families and communities, establish a dangerous precedent, and are costly and counterproductive. The restrictions have caused administrative burdens and have emboldened state lawmakers to discriminate against DACA grantees. Moreover, the restrictions disproportionately harm women and LGBTQ immigrants who are more likely to be denied access to employer-sponsored and private health insurance coverage. Finally, for DACA recipients in need of healthcare, the denial of affordable care and coverage undoubtedly leads to human suffering and diminished health. The changes to existing federal rules to deny healthcare access for those who qualify for DACA have been opposed by a broad coalition of organizations representing civil and human rights, women's health and reproductive justice, children's rights, LGBTQ rights, faith, and healthcare providers and by over 80 members of Congress.
To continue to restrict immigrants' access to affordable health coverage and care is to undermine values of fairness and opportunity, and this administration's own achievements in expanding access to coverage, lowering healthcare costs, and sustaining the healthcare system for future generations.
We urge your administration to look to recent Congressional legislation as a starting point for healthcare access. H.R. 4240, the Health Equity and Access under the Law (HEAL) for Immigrant Women and Families Act, introduced by Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-01) in March of 2014 and supported by more than 200 national, state, and local groups simplifies an overcomplicated system of laws so that all lawfully present individuals have equitable access to affordable and public health coverage and care. This commonsense legislation puts forward the simple, yet powerful notion that all people should be able to participate in the healthcare programs to which their tax dollars contribute.
We urge humane and bold leadership from this administration to move current health and immigration policies in line with the needs of the 21st century family and economy. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Sign PetitionSign PetitionThank you for your commitment to reforming immigration policies under your existing executive authority in light of Congress's failure to pass immigration reform. We applaud your leadership in working to achieve comprehensive immigration reform, and your action to extend relief from deportation to some families while we wait for Congress to act. Unfortunately, those granted relief through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and recently announced administrative relief continue to be locked out of affordable healthcare programs, to the great detriment of our health and our communities. The time is now to rescind current barriers to affordable health coverage and care for those granted administrative relief under new and existing programs. Any administrative relief program ought to treat all persons eligible for relief and work authorization as lawfully present for all purposes, including for the purposes of eligibility for public and affordable health coverage programs.
[Your comment will be added here]
DACA has transformed the lives of those individuals who, under the program, have been able to stay with their families and more fully contribute to their communities and our nation without the constant threat of deportation. Yet, we are deeply concerned with the restrictions on access to affordable health coverage and care imposed on DACA recipients. Due to this administration's changes to existing federal rules, those who have qualified for DACA are excluded from affordable health insurance options available to others with deferred action. These changes, issued as federal regulations and guidance in August of 2012, generally deny DACA recipients the opportunity to participate in vital health coverage programs their tax dollars support, including federal Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program in about half the states, and the Affordable Care Act.
These federal restrictions are harmful to immigrant families and communities, establish a dangerous precedent, and are costly and counterproductive. The restrictions have caused administrative burdens and have emboldened state lawmakers to discriminate against DACA grantees. Moreover, the restrictions disproportionately harm women and LGBTQ immigrants who are more likely to be denied access to employer-sponsored and private health insurance coverage. Finally, for DACA recipients in need of healthcare, the denial of affordable care and coverage undoubtedly leads to human suffering and diminished health. The changes to existing federal rules to deny healthcare access for those who qualify for DACA have been opposed by a broad coalition of organizations representing civil and human rights, women's health and reproductive justice, children's rights, LGBTQ rights, faith, and healthcare providers and by over 80 members of Congress.
To continue to restrict immigrants' access to affordable health coverage and care is to undermine values of fairness and opportunity, and this administration's own achievements in expanding access to coverage, lowering healthcare costs, and sustaining the healthcare system for future generations.
We urge your administration to look to recent Congressional legislation as a starting point for healthcare access. H.R. 4240, the Health Equity and Access under the Law (HEAL) for Immigrant Women and Families Act, introduced by Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-01) in March of 2014 and supported by more than 200 national, state, and local groups simplifies an overcomplicated system of laws so that all lawfully present individuals have equitable access to affordable and public health coverage and care. This commonsense legislation puts forward the simple, yet powerful notion that all people should be able to participate in the healthcare programs to which their tax dollars contribute.
We urge humane and bold leadership from this administration to move current health and immigration policies in line with the needs of the 21st century family and economy. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
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