The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
HUSKY expansion for immigrants unlikely this year
HARTFORD — Speaking in Spanish at the state Capitol on Wednesday, Danbury High School student Stephanea Neupari said that due to complications from appendicitis surgery in Perú three years ago, she had to have another operation.
Now, living in Connecticut for a year, the scar tissue is still painful. Her father took her to a doctor, even though the family could not afford the medical expenses, she said. She likely will need a third operation.
Neupari was speaking at a rally attended by students, many of them on spring break, to push for expanded health care coverage through HUSKY, the state’s brand of Medicaid. Neupari, who is 17 years old, is not eligible for HUSKY. Only children up to 15 can enroll in the coverage for immigrants regardless of their status.
“If this year, they do not fund HUSKY for immigrants up to age 18, many young people like me will not be able to finance their medical expenses, regardless of the severity of injuries,” Neupari said through an interpreter.
Advocates continue the fight to expand health care for immigrants, regardless of status, to age 18. But this year, extra funding is unlikely. The legislature has said it would ignore the governor’s proposed budget changes and stay the course with the two-year budget passed last year, though lawmakers have said they will try to find some money for budget adjustments to higher education, nonprofits and children’s mental health services.
Speaking at the rally Wednesday, state Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, D-West Hartford, said she thinks there is money that could be used, and she will continue to push for expanded health care until the end of the session on May 8. She thanked young people for showing up during their spring break and for sharing their stories.
“It shouldn’t have to be this way, but for my colleagues to hear the impact of not having health insurance for folks who are living here in the state of Connecticut is vitally important,” Gilchrest said, “because I think there can often be this disconnect between the policy and the people.”
Progress has been made in the past few years to expand health care to more immigrants with statefunded health insurance for low-income residents. Last year, children up to age 12 were able to enroll in insurance that they can keep until they are 19, and a bill that will take effect in July allows children up to age 15 to enroll. Children 8 and under and pregnant immigrants became eligible for coverage in 2021.
Carolina Bortolleto, a co-founder of Connecticut Students for a Dream and leader of HUSKY 4 Immigrants, called the cutoff age “arbitrary” and said the whole community needs access to health care.
“We want legislators to know that we should be very proud of the progress that Connecticut has made but that it’s still not enough,” Bortolleto said. “Health care needs don’t end when someone turns 15.”
About 11,700 people have enrolled in State HUSKY A and State HUSKY B as of March, according to data from the state.
Medical professionals say this health insurance will help people receive preventative care so their conditions don’t become chronic. It will also reduce the amount that hospitals spend on uncompensated care, they say.
More than 300 doctors have signed a letter supporting expanding HUSKY. They will deliver it to legislators in Hartford on Thursday, followed by a rally.
One provider who signed the letter and will speak at the Capitol rally, Dr. Julia Rosenberg, is the associate director of the Yale Pediatric Immigrant and Refugee Clinic and an assistant professor of pediatrics. She said children with health insurance have better health outcomes and do better in school.
“I want to implore you to have this year be the last that our neighbors share heartbreaking stories of missed essential health care with real, life-threatening consequences,” she said. “We should be hearing these stories in our pediatrician offices. Not in the Capitol. And not when it’s not too late for them to receive the care they needed.”