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Jayapal introduces bill to extend healthcare to immigrants
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IANS | 13 May, 2021
Pramila Jayapal, the first Indian-American woman to serve in the US
House of Representatives, has reintroduced a bicameral legislation to
grant lawful immigrants eligibility to healthcare programs.
Taking
to Twitter on Wednesday, Jayapal announced: "We must finally guarantee
healthcare to everyone as a human right, regardless of immigration
status, income, employment, or anything else.
"That's why I'm
proud to be introducing the HEAL (Health Equity and Access under Law)
Act, a first step towards removing barriers to health care for
immigrants."
Calling herself "a proud immigrant who came to
America when I was 16", Jayapal said that "this is an urgent and
necessary first step to eliminating barriers to healthcare and ensuring
immigrants get the care they need".
According to a statement by
Jayapal's office, the proposal, co-sponsored by more than 80 members of
Congress and endorsed by hundreds of organisations, is being introduced
"amidst a devastating public health crisis in which over two-thirds of
the undocumented population are working on the frontlines of the
Covid-19 pandemic".
The HEAL Act ensures critical access to
Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by lifting
the current five-year period that lawfully present immigrants, including
children, are required to wait before being able to enrol in these
health care programs, the statement said.
"The bill also
provides access to public and affordable health coverage for DACA
recipients and removes the current restrictions that prevent
undocumented immigrants from purchasing care through the Affordable Care
Act (ACA) marketplace while ensuring these individuals are able to
obtain premium-tax credits and cost-sharing reductions."
Immigrants
represent a substantial part of America's essential workforce with at
least 23 million of them making up one in five individuals in the
essential workforce.
Additionally, over two-thirds of the undocumented population are working on the frontlines of the pandemic.
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