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![Marcela Parra, left, a navigator at Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS) helps a customer fill up paperwork with a customer who does not wish to be identified, Monday, Oct. 1, 2018, in Houston. Photo: Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer / © 2018 Houston Chronicle]()
Marcela Parra, left, a navigator at Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS) helps a customer fill up paperwork with a customer who does not wish to be identified, Monday, Oct. 1, 2018, in Houston.
Marcela Parra, left, a navigator at Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS) helps a customer fill up paperwork with a customer who does not wish to be identified, Monday, Oct. 1, 2018, in Houston.
Photo: Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer
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Marcela Parra, left, a navigator at Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS) helps a customer fill up paperwork with a customer who does not wish to be identified, Monday, Oct. 1, 2018, in Houston.
Marcela Parra, left, a navigator at Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS) helps a customer fill up paperwork with a customer who does not wish to be identified, Monday, Oct. 1, 2018, in Houston.
Photo: Marie D. De Jesús, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer
Legacy Community Health, the largest network of community health clinics in Texas, will send a group to Washington this week to lobby lawmakers against a new Trump administration rule change that could hold using health and nutrition assistance programs against immigrants seeking legal residency.
At issue is a proposed revision in the so-called public charge rule that would greatly expand the negative factors determining if an immigrant seeking a temporary visa or green card is now or will “likely” become a burden on taxpayers.
The Department of Homeland Security unveiled the expanded rules last month and a 60-day period for public comment began last week.
“Legacy is doing a full-court press on this one,” said Kevin Nix, a spokesman for Houston-based Legacy said on Monday.
RELATED: New rule: Tougher scrutiny on legal immigrants using assistance brings widespread fear
A delegation from the community health organization will meet Tuesday and Wednesday with 15 senior staff or Congress members across party lines to argue that the rule will not only do sweeping harm to legal immigrants but also financially hurt community health centers across the country, said Nix.
Nix said they will meet mostly with Texas lawmakers and staff but also other lawmakers who have supported community health centers. He did not name the lawmakers.
The delegation plans to make the case that if eligible patients do not enroll in health programs such as Medicaid and need-based Medicare prescription drug coverage, the impact will be felt far beyond immigrant communities, he said.
Uninsured rates will increase, as will the use of emergency rooms for routine treatments and the amount of uncompensated care borne by taxpayers could rise dramatically, Nix said.
The Department of Homeland Security has said it is expanding the public charge rule to encourage more self-sufficiency among immigrants seeking legal residency. The policy is in keeping with the Trump administration long-held goal to promote “merit-based” immigration among those with more means, higher education and marketable skills.
The public charge designation has for nearly two decades been mostly focused on discouraging legal status for those who rely on cash-based benefits for primary income, or those who need long-term health care at government expense. The new rule would add applications for one or more health nutrition or housing assistance programs during the past three years, including most forms of Medicaid, need-based Medicare Part D prescription drug benefits, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, and Section 8 housing vouchers and assistance.
It will also take into account income, education, chronic health conditions and insurance status when determining if an immigrant is likely to become a public charge.
Some community health groups are already reporting a decline in enrollment even among current green card holders and other legal immigrants not touched by rule change out of fear and confusion.
Katy Caldwell, executive director of Legacy, has said the rule will economically hit Houston especially hard because of the city’s large immigrant population and the volume of medical institutions.
RELATED: These immigrants are legal. It’s unbelievable what that they are being penalized for this basic human need [Opinion]
“The mission of Legacy Community Health, like any safety-net provider, is to provide quality, affordable care to low-income patients, including many legal immigrants,” she wrote in a recent Houston Chronicle opinion piece, “Our goal is to provide preventive care to keep people out of the emergency room for non-emergencies, such as colds, or for treatment of chronic conditions. We’ve been doing this for decades in a fiscally responsible way and with bipartisan support. But this new rule would likely limit the amount of care we can provide, and it would be the same for many other Texas providers.”
Article source: https://www.chron.com/business/article/Houston-health-group-to-lobby-against-immigrant-13307794.php