But it's not clear how many of the immigrants subject to Obama's order will be able to buyand able to affordhealth coverage through their jobs or in the individual health plans, said Samatha Artiga, director of the Disparities Policy Project at the Kaiser Family Foundation. <\/p>\n
\"We do know, historically, that immigrants have been more likely to have low-wage job and be in industries that do not provide health-care coverage to workers,\" said Artiga. <\/p>\n
And even if they are offered coverage through their employer, \"In many cases, that's unaffordable,\" she said. <\/p>\n
Artiga said Obama's order could alleviate the fears of being deported that have kept some of the affected undocumented immigrants from enrolling their U.S.-born children in Medicaid and CHIP health insurance programs that those kids are eligible for due to their citizenship status. <\/p>\n
\"From past research and experience, that has always been a big barrier for enrolling children in those mixed-status families,\" she said. <\/p>\n
\"But I think the broader issue is that individuals remain without access to affordable health coverage options, so many of them may remain uninsured.\" <\/p>\n
But that doesn't mean they will stay out of the hospital. <\/p>\n
Uninsured undocumented immigrants, along with other uninsured Americans who visit the emergency room and get other hospital services despite being unable to pay for their care, in 2012 generated nearly $46 billion in uncompensated care costs at 4,999 U.S. hospitals in 2012, the last year data was available, according to the American Hospital Association. <\/p>\n
Those costs, equal to 6.1 percent of total hospital expenses, end up being covered by a federally funded program, by extra charges to those with insurance, or by the hospitals themselves. <\/p>\n
While the AHA doesn't have data on how much of those costs are due to undocumented immigrants, they can be considerable in individual cases. <\/p>\n
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Originally posted here: <\/p>\n
Health-care maze for the undocumented<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" But it's not clear how many of the immigrants subject to Obama's order will be able to buyand able to affordhealth coverage through their jobs or in the individual health plans, said Samatha Artiga, director of the Disparities Policy Project at the Kaiser Family Foundation. \"We do know, historically, that immigrants have been more likely to have low-wage job and be in industries that do not provide health-care coverage to workers,\" said Artiga. Continue reading