Health Care and Children in Immigrant Families

Project Summary

One in five children in America today lives in an immigrant family.  One in three children without health insurance lives in an immigrant family.  The majority of these children are citizens and potentially eligible for, but currently not receiving, health care benefits.  Most of their parents are working, but in jobs that do not provide health insurance. 

Through a generous grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation, NCSL will bring state policymakers and researchers together to share expertise across the health and immigration fields. Our focus will be legislators’ leadership development, technical assistance and building networks between and among policymakers involved in children’s health and immigrant issues.   For more information click here.

Key Areas: Access to Health Care | Legislation | Language Access |
                              Meetings and Materials | Other Resources

Access to Health Care

• Health Care Access for Immigrant Children in Immigrant Families: A Primer for State Legislators (April 2008) 
• Immigration Debate Continues: Who Should get Health Care? (State Health Notes, July 23, 2007)
• Federal Law Reimburses Hospitals for Treating Undocumented Immigrants: A Primer on "Section 1011"  (State Health Notes, April 16, 2007)
• Georgia Considers How to Adapt to SCHIP Funding Shortfall (State Health Notes, March 5, 2007)
• Washington Joins States Looking to Insure all Kids (State Health Notes, March 19, 2007)
• States see SCHIP as one Route to Covering Children (State Health Notes, March 19, 2007)
• Wisconsin Governor Looks to Cover All (State Health Notes, February 19, 2007)
• Annotated Bibliography on Health of Immigrant Children (January 2007)

Legislation

• Immigrant Eligibility for Health Benefits: Federal Action and State Laws in 2005-2006 (January 2007) 
• 2007 Enacted State Legislation Related to Children and Access to Health Care (May 27, 2008)
• 2007 Enacted State Legislation Related to Immigrants and Immigration  

Language Access

• Helping Non-English Speakers Navigate Health and Human Services (January 2003) 
• Giving Immigrants a Hand in Navigating the Health Care System (October 7, 2002)

• Obesity and Nutrition: Promising Practices for Diverse Communities in Oregon (September, 5 2008)
  Meeting Summary  
  Participant List  
  Strategic Plan to Slow the Rate of Diabetes in Oregon: Reversing the Trend of Obesity and Diabetes 
  
  
• Health Promotion & Prevention of Health Disparities for Minnesota's Refugee & Immigrant Communities (September 24, 2008)
  Meeting Summary
  Participant List 
  
  
• 2008 Minnesota Roundtable on Health Promotion for Immigrants and Refugees (February 11, 2008)
  Meeting Summary
  Speaker Bios
  Leighton Ku's Presentation   
  Scott Leitz's Presentation 
  Jonathan Watson's Presentation 
  Mitchell Davis' Presentation 
  
  
• Diversity Rx
  The Sixth National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations will be held September 21-24, 2008 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
  NCSL was an original founder of the DiversityRx website, devoted to language and cultural competence in health care.  NCSL will be one of the partners of this conference.  For more information, please visit http://www.diversityrxconference.org/

Other Resources

• Common Immigration Terms (NCSL 2007)
• Children’s Health Insurance Reform:  Increasing Coverage and Expanding Access in the States (NCSL 2008)
• CRS Report for Congress:  Noncitizen Eligibility for Federal Public Assistance:  Policy Overview and Trends 
• Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured:  Covering New Americans:  A Review of Federal and State Policies Related to Immigrants’ Eligibility and Access to Publicly Funded Health Insurance
• Center for American Progress:  Immigrants in the U.S. Health Care System – Five Myths That Misinform the American Public
• Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured:  Characteristics of the Uninsured:  Who is Eligible for Public Coverage and Who Needs Help Affording Coverage?

Contact NCSL

Last Updated- May 27, 2008