Fear of deportation stopping immigrants from seeking health coverage, but senator wants to change that

State Senator Ricardo Lara seeks support for his Health4All bill. In the panel are Dr. John Connolly of Insure the Uninsured Project; and DACA recipient Reyna Moreno. Photos by Cecile C. Ochoa

By Lawrence C. Ochoa

California State Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) met September 5 with ethnic media reporters at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center to push for his “Health for All” legislation to benefit undocumented immigrants with no health coverage.

The bill died in committee deliberations, but Lara said he plans to reintroduce it in January.

Lara, who chairs the 24-member Latino Legislative Caucus, is seeking public support for his proposal that would create a health care exchange for undocumented immigrants to purchase “quality and affordable” coverage, as well as expand state-funded Medi-Cal for the poor.

Speaking in a forum organized by the New American Media (NAM), Lara said he is working closely with Assemblyman Robert Bonta, who is Filipino American, and others from the Senate Appropriations Committee to ensure that his bill would have financial support.

“How much are the undocumented population willing to pay through mechanisms, such as a small driver’s license surcharge for example?” asked Lara, who said he grew up accompanying his parents to gain access to benefits in this country.

The NAM forum was led by Executive Director Sandy Close and participated in by a Speakers’ Panel composed of Dr. John Connolly, associate director of Insure the Uninsured Project; DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients Adalhi Montes and Reyna Moreno; and undocumented Californians Alessandro Negrete and his mother Irma Montoya.

“Documentation is a pressing issue currently in the United States,” said Connolly, and there’s a need to spread awareness that this bill seeks to benefit not only Latino communities, but any minority community in general. “For example, we have diverse Asian communities who speak a variety of different languages out there and getting this message across has been difficult,” he added.

“Even now, we need ambassadors from each of these minority communities to advocate these causes, because it’s a hard sell without that support.”

“Even when you are disseminating the information, there is still some existing barriers, especially in the mixed-status families with some members being documented and some who aren’t,” Connolly continued.

Supporting Lara’s observations that those without insurance are prone to mental health depression that could lead to incidents of suicide, Connolly emphasized that educating these communities about the different rules is important. He said California is taking the initiative to inform and cover the various ethnic communities.

According to NAM, it is not generally known that many of the approximately 127,200 California DACA recipients could also be eligible for state-funded Medi-Cal.

“There’s a mixed feelings among DACA recipients about submitting their information for medical coverage fearing that their information would be inter-shared among federal and state agencies,” said Connolly. He explained that this is a myth and should be corrected through various information channels such as through the local community media.

“How do you die if you are undocumented?” was a question posed by Sandy Close to the panel. She noted that “end of life questions” facing undocumented immigrants are “human challenges that care providers as well as relatives face daily.”

The two DACA recipients in the panel shared their positive experience in receiving medical benefits after benefiting from President Obama’s new program for undocumented immigrants who entered the country at age 16 or younger and who have lived in the United States continuously since 2007.

In the meantime, undocumented Californians Alessandro Negrete and his mother Irma Montoya said they are still struggling to find health services for their medical needs. Montoya, 53, had to wait for three years to get hip replacement procedure. The severe pain has prompted her to seek the medical care she needed, despite fears of deportation, she said.

An earlier version of this story appeared in Inquirer.net.

NAM Executive Director Sandy Close asks: Do undocumented immigrants have access to end-of-life palliative care?