WSHA has filed a comment opposing the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) proposed rule “Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds.” The rule would use an immigrant’s receipt of Medicaid and possibly the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) — among other public services — to deny them status in this country on the basis that they are a “public charge.”
The rule has garnered national attention for its far-reaching negative impacts to the immigrant community generally, well beyond those who are directly subject to it. WSHA’s comments concentrated on the rule’s impact on hospitals and their provision of health care to the communities they serve. The rule would increase uninsured rates, triggering a rise in uncompensated care costs, de-stabilizing hospitals — particularly in more rural areas — and undermine the health of communities, broadly.
WSHA urged DHS to withdraw the rule on the basis that — beyond simply being bad policy — it would negatively affect health outcomes of the targeted population as well as negatively impact hospitals, health systems and the people they serve, citizens and noncitizens alike. Read WSHA’s complete comment.
