Illegal Immigrants Not Covered by Governor's Health Proposal
By Barry Massey/
Associated Press
SANTA FE — Immigrants living in New Mexico illegally will not be covered by Gov. Bill Richardson's proposal for universal health care.
The governor's goal is to ensure all New Mexicans have access to medical coverage. However, undocumented immigrants — and some legal immigrants who recently arrived in the United States — will not be eligible for the publicly financed health programs Richardson proposes to offer to low- and middle-income households without medical insurance.
Nationwide, an estimated 12 million immigrants are living illegally in the country.
As governor, Richardson has advocated immigrant friendly policies. But in his universal health care proposal, he makes no provision for using state money to offer publicly funded insurance coverage options to undocumented immigrants.
Richardson supported allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses in New Mexico, partly to reduce the problem of uninsured drivers who contribute to higher insurance costs for other motorists.
Advocates for universal health care have made similar arguments about health insurance, saying that medical costs are driven up partly by the unreimbursed care provided to the uninsured.
Richardson will ask the Legislature next year to approve his health care proposal, which would be phased in over several years. It will use a mix of taxpayer-financed programs, such as Medicaid, to offer health care at no cost or at a reduced, subsidized price to New Mexicans who qualify based on their income. New Mexicans will be required to buy insurance if they can afford it and employers will have to contribute to a fund that will help pay for subsidized health care coverage.
About 400,000 New Mexicans — one in five — are uninsured. Only Texas has a higher uninsured rate.
About 6 percent of the state's population in 2005 was foreign born and not U.S. citizens, according to the Census Bureau. That group includes lawful permanent immigrants, those on student or other temporary visas and immigrants living illegally in New Mexico.
Human Services Secretary Pam Hyde says undocumented immigrants will have options for obtaining medical care despite not being directly covered by the governor's plan.
By law, undocumented immigrants cannot be denied medical care for emergencies and childbirth. Hospitals and clinics must provide that emergency care and are reimbursed through Medicaid. That obligation for providing emergency care won't change under the governor's proposal.
In addition, Hyde says, commercial insurance is an option.
"I don't think there is anything in the plan that if an undocumented immigrant is in this state and wants to buy a health insurance policy that they couldn't do that," Hyde said at a news conference when Richardson announced his plan last month.
Some children of undocumented immigrants currently qualify for health coverage through state programs, and that will continue under the plan. Children who are U.S. citizens by birth and are New Mexico residents — even if their parents are living in the country illegally — qualify for Medicaid if they meet income guidelines, said Betina Gonzales McCracken, a Human Services Department spokeswoman.
Richardson's universal health care plan relies heavily on Medicaid, which is jointly funded by the state and federal government, to provide coverage for low- and middle-income children and adults who are uninsured.
However, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for regular Medicaid benefits. That will not change under the governor's plan.
Recent immigrants living legally in New Mexico also will run into restrictions under Richardson's health care plan because of Medicaid limits. Legally documented immigrants are ineligible for medical services through Medicaid for the first five years they live in the country. Richardson's plan will not change that federal restriction.
Richardson also advocates universal health care in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, and that plan wouldn't provide subsidized coverage for undocumented immigrants. Emergency medical services for immigrants would continue to be available through Medicaid.
Tom Reynolds, a campaign spokesman for Richardson, said Friday that immigration reform was the solution to the health care problem for immigrants. Richardson has proposed penalties on employers who knowingly hire undocumented immigrants and supports a path to legal citizenship for illegal immigrants who meet certain conditions.
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