Ada Espinoza came to the United States with her husband and two children two years ago. At the time, the family was seeking asylum due to the instability and violence plaguing their home country of Nicaragua.
Health and wellbeing has always been a priority for their family, and so when they arrived in the U.S., they made it a point to sign up for health insurance through Espinoza’s employer.
Because the family is in the process of obtaining a more permanent immigration status, they don’t qualify for a subsidized healthcare plan through the Marketplace or a state-funded Medicaid plan.
“We pay about $200 per week, so that we can access health care coverage,” she said. “And that doesn’t include the cost of deductibles.”
Last year, Espinoza’s 15-year-old son Joseph Osorio was granted permanent residency but despite being able to legally work, he still wasn’t able to have his healthcare costs covered by Medicaid.
That’s about to change for three thousand kids in the state of Michigan like Osorio. In late July, more than $26 million were allocated in the state’s upcoming fiscal year budget to expand access to Medicaid for immigrants with green cards.
The change gets rid of a requirement that children and pregnant people with permanent residence immigration status must live in the United States for five years before accessing Medicaid.
Susan Reed, the executive director of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, has been advocating for the expansion for years.
“This really represents an incremental step towards, certainly, our goal which is health equity, and health equity, you know, has to include coverage of all Michiganders, regardless of immigration status,” she said.
Children with permanent residence will be able to get the coverage up until their 21st birthday, according to the plan. Reed says this will allow families caring for young kids with chronic conditions to have their healthcare needs met without incurring high costs.
“This is an investment in children’s health,” she said.
The new policy also improves coverage for pregnant people with green cards. Currently, Michigan covers this group as well as undocumented pregnant people with Medicaid but the change in eligibility will provide more expansive coverage for the pregnant person, according to Reed.
According to a statement from the state health department, eligible immigrant children and pregnant people could gain the expanded access to Medicaid as early as October 1st.
With this new change, Michigan joins 33 other states in the country waiving the five-year waiting period for immigrants for permanent residence.
