Trump bans immigrants who can’t pay for healthcare
http://www.hrlnews.com/2019/10/trump-bans-immigrants-who-cant-pay-for.html
Amid his impeachment probe,
President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on Friday night requiring
many future immigrant visa applicants to show they can afford health
care, a move that could make it harder for poor migrants to enter the
U.S.
The action, which is set to take effect in 30 days, would require
applicants, including people with ties to family members in the U.S., to
show they have health insurance or prove their financial ability to pay
for medical care before being issued a visa that could lead to a green
card.
The proclamation wouldn’t apply to noncitizen children of U.S.
citizens. Refugees and immigrants who won asylum are also excluded from
the new requirement.
The move marks the latest effort by President Trump to restrict immigrants’ ability to enter the U.S, cnbc.com reported.
The administration is poised to implement a rule this month that
would require many of the same applicants to demonstrate that they
wouldn’t become reliant on public benefits including Medicaid should
they be allowed to immigrate to the U.S.
The new requirement would take a further step, requiring anyone
looking to move to the U.S. to enrol in private insurance — including as
a dependent on a family member’s health plan — or possess the financial
means to cover significant medical costs.
The proclamation also allows entry into the U.S. for migrants who
have the “financial resources to pay for reasonably foreseeable medical
costs, ” but it doesn’t define the threshold for meeting that standard.
Subsidised plans purchased on the Affordable Care Act insurance
exchanges wouldn’t count as an eligible form of insurance under the
White House’s new definition.
Low-income immigrants living in the country legally can’t use
Medicaid for their first five years, but they can receive premium
subsidies if their incomes are low enough. Under the new White House
policy, purchasing health insurance using subsidies would disqualify
people from living in the country legally.
In its proclamation, the White House said it was taking the
additional step to safeguard the health-care system for American
citizens by preventing immigrants from enrolling in Medicaid or going to
emergency rooms with no insurance, requiring hospitals or taxpayers to
cover the cost.
“President Trump has taken action to promote immigrant
self-sufficiency, which has long been a fundamental aspect of our
immigration system,” the proclamation said.
The new requirement will apply to potentially hundreds of thousands
of people moving to the U.S. each year on immigrant visas, which allow
people to become permanent residents. In the 2018 fiscal year, the U.S.
issued a total of roughly 534,000 visas, a 4.6% decline from the
previous year’s total, according to State Department data.
Some of those visas, like those granted to noncitizen children of U.S. citizens, won’t need to comply with the new requirement.
The U.S. issues about 1.1 million green cards a year, but people
issued immigrant visas often wait years in backlogs before they are
granted permanent resident status.
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