Blog: Survey Shows that "Public Charge" Rule Drives Immigrants Away From Medicaid and Medical Care

By Teodor Handarov and Alexander SomodevillaNearly half of community health centers participating in a survey conducted by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at the George Washington University report a drop in immigrant Medicaid enrollees since last year, when the Trump Administration first proposed its “public charge” rule.Per the language of the rule, receipt of Medicaid coverage and other “public benefits” can penalize immigrant patients by providing legal barriers toward obtaining a green card or other pathway to U.S. citizenship.The results of the survey, which was conducted between May and June of this year, were initially published by the Kaiser Family Foundation in a brief titled “Impact of Shifting Immigration Policy on Medicaid Enrollment and Utilization of Care among Health Center Patients.”The survey results suggest that fear of immigration policy repercussions to be growing among Medicaid enrollees. The survey found that about one-third of participating health centers report that many or some of their patients have disenrolled from or refused to renew Medicaid coverage. The survey also found that in nearly 40 percent of participating health centers, many or some immigrant parents have refused to enroll their children in Medicaid.Just as troubling, the “public charge” rule and other immigration policy changes are keeping immigrants away from seeking healthcare altogether, adults and children alike. Nearly three in 10 community health centers report a decline among many or some adult patients in seeking health care. A similar trend is noticed among younger patients as well, as over one in five of the health centers report reductions in health care use among some or many children in immigrant families.In the brief, The Kaiser Family Foundation suggests that continuation of the above trends will have negative impacts on the health and well-being of adults and children alike in immigrant communities across the U.S.