SALT LAKE CITY – Earlier this year, Utah lawmakers passed a bill making immigrant children eligible for the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program.
A press conference was held last week to unveil Utah’s new CHIP programme. Ciriac Alvarez Valle, senior policy analyst with Voices for Utah Children, told KSL NewsRadio how the bill will affect Utah’s immigrant communities.
Alvarez Valle said it would help cover children who aren’t US citizens or legal permanent residents. That includes children of undocumented immigrants.
“The Department of Health and Human Services is projecting that about 2,000 children would qualify for this,” Alvarez Valle said.
Families will be able to apply through the Department of Health and Human Services starting in 2024. Those who apply can’t be in subsidised employment and must have lived in Utah for six months.
Utah ‘stepping up’ to cover children
Alvarez Valle said the only difference in coverage is that immigrant children will have state CHIP coverage instead of federal CHIP coverage.
“Over the last five years, we’ve seen an alarming trend where Utah has one of the highest rates of uninsured children in the country,” Alvarez Valle said.
The rates of uninsured children are highest among Latino children, and children in rural areas have the highest rates of being uninsured. Alvarez Valle said it’s a welcome mat effect. Not only is the legislation bipartisan and aimed at working and low-income families, but it’s also “helping the most vulnerable children in our state”.
“We are stepping up to make sure that all children in our state have the opportunity to have coverage and then get the health care that they need,” Alvarez Valle said.
This legislation is especially important right now, she said, because continuous Medicaid eligibility is “unravelling”. Many people are losing coverage as the public health emergency created by the COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end.
So instead of more people losing coverage, Utah is providing more coverage to those who need it.
Alvarez Valle says there’s also research that shows children who have health insurance have better short- and long-term health outcomes. They’re also more likely to graduate from high school, earn higher wages and generate more tax revenue for the state.
