Utah is giving taxpayer-funded health insurance to illegal immigrant children, according to a law that went into effect Jan. 1.
Roughly 6,500 illegal immigrant children in Utah will qualify for care under the program, Thaiss Del Rio, a health policy analyst at Voices for Utah Children, told Axios of the new law. Utah’s move follows a decision by the state of California to provide health care for illegal immigrants up to the age of 49.
The program is expected to cost $4.5 billion, according to the law. The program caters to low-income individuals under the age of 19 who live in low-income households with working family members and are ineligible for Medicaid.
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The program would be more cost-effective compared to covering emergency visits to the hospital, Democratic State Sen. Luz Escamilla, who sponsored the legislation, previously said, according to Axios. The bill also won significant favor of the Republican-controlled legislature.
“We encourage everyone, including non-U.S. citizens, to seek necessary healthcare or preventive services. The goal of State CHIP is to reduce confusion and fear that may keep the children of immigrant families from accessing critical medical, dental, and mental health services,” the state government-run program says on a page about frequently asked questions.
Border Patrol recorded more than 2 million illegal migrant encounters at the southern border in fiscal year 2023 and more than 2.2 million in fiscal year 2022, according to federal data.
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“Access to care or coverage should not be determined by where a child is born,” Del Rio said. “We are just really excited to know that more children in our state will have access … for the very first time so that they can stay healthy, they can go to the doctor’s [office], get their vaccines and be able to perform better in school.”
There is a possibility that illegal immigrants of other ages could also receive state-funded health care coverage under the program, Del Rio said.
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