As CT HUSKY for immigrants expands, advocates push for more

Advocates, legislators and residents rallied at Fair Haven Community Health Care in New Haven on Monday morning to celebrate the expansion of state-sponsored insurance coverage for children regardless of immigration status.

As of July 1, the program will cover children up to the age of 15 who wouldn’t otherwise qualify for Medicaid because of their immigration status. Previously , the program covered children up to the age of 12. Kids enrolled in the program keep coverage through age 19.

“We gather today to celebrate a lot of hard work by many key players who led the charge and who continue to work to further expand coverage. We are not going to stop until all Connecticut residents have access to affordable health care,” Suzanne Lagarde, the chief executive officer of Fair Haven Community Health Care, told the crowd.

Nancy Aucapina and her 13-year-old daughter are both immigrants and patients at Fair Haven. Aucapina’s daughter, Brittany, receives coverage through the state program.

“If my daughter, for some reason, had to go to the emergency room, I have the security that she will be able to receive medical care,” Aucapina said to the crowd in Spanish. “I know that she will be in good hands.”

However, she said she’s worried about the future of Brittany’s coverage.

“When she turns 19, she will not be able to have insurance. I wish that the law eventually will change so everyone else can be covered.”

Others at the press conference agreed, urging legislators to continue expanding the HUSKY-like coverage to include children up to the age of 18 and beyond.

Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, D-New Haven, committed to expanding the program next legislative session.

“We have been struggling incrementally to make progress and this latest step is one to celebrate,” said Looney. “Next year we will renew the struggle. We will try to move it up to 18 or beyond. It will be an important battle for us.”

Expansion of the program has occurred in phases, which often frustrated supporters. The legislature originally passed a law extending coverage to children 8 and under in 2021, and then expanded the program to include children 12 and under in 2022. That coverage began on Jan 1, 2023.

Gov. Ned Lamont said the state should continue to expand coverage, but that it needed to be accompanied by “comprehensive immigration reform.”

Many in the crowd had questions about the feasibility of the program’s implementation and its affordability. Lamont directed budgetary concerns to the legislators.

“You’ve got legislators here, and they’re going to step forward,” he said. “They’ll say, ‘these are our priorities. I want to spend more here, less there,’ whatever it might be. That’s why you have an election.”

Covering children 12 and under cost the state $13 million in the calendar year 2023, according to Peter Hadler, the deputy commissioner at the state Department of Social Services.

The fiscal year 2024 budget includes a total of $38 million for the program to insure children 15 and under. A 2022 RAND report estimated expanding coverage to undocumented immigrants of all ages who qualify would cost the state between $83 million and $121 million: 3% of Connecticut’s total Medicaid budget.

Lagarde noted that coverage reduces “downstream” costs such as eventual hospitalization costs and overcrowded emergency rooms for the state’s health care system.

HUSKY 4 Immigrants Coalition Manager Luis Luna told the crowd that approximately 60% of undocumented immigrants in the United States don’t have access to health care. One of them is Juan Gavidia, a Venezuelan immigrant who was diagnosed with prostate cancer 11 months ago.

Because Gavidia does not have insurance or a primary doctor, he has had trouble receiving the health care he needs for his diagnosis. Many of his appointments have been suspended.

“My health has deteriorated significantly because of anxiety and stress and not being able to treat [my cancer,]” he told the crowd in Spanish. “I ask legislators to continue this initiative… and I am convinced that this action will transform my life.”

During this year’s legislative session , both Republicans and Democrats expressed concerns about the program’s expansion.

“I would like to see us take care of our current obligations before we add to any more of our obligations,” said Rep. Michelle Cook, D-Torrington, who is on the Human Services committee.

A “HUSKY for all” chant concluded the conference, as many of the advocates celebrated, snapping pictures with their posters.