With lawmakers returning to the Capitol, dozens of immigrants and advocates are raising their voices.
People gathered at the Legislative Office Building Wednesday morning, renewing their calls for expanded HUSKY health coverage. That is a Medicaid program, and they want it to cover all immigrants regardless of their status.
“I pay taxes,” Elenir Cantado, from Brazil, said.
“Many are parents, they have kids, and you know, what happens when they get sick?” Flor Montenegro with Connecticut Worker Center said.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
HUSKY is the state’s public health coverage program for certain children and adults, and the HUSKY 4 Immigrants coalition has successfully gotten it expanded in past legislative sessions.
In 2021, the state passed legislation to expand HUSKY to undocumented children through age eight and to cover pre and postnatal care for undocumented pregnant women.
Then in 2022, HUSKY was expanded further to cover all undocumented children under age 12. However, those older than 12 are still ineligible for coverage.
Local
One of them is Jose Palma.
“We wanted to help here,” he said at Wednesday’s event.
The 13-year-old from Ansonia is from Guatemala originally and he has no health insurance. That became a problem recently.
“I broke my arm, like right here,” Palma said.
His mom says when Palma broke his collar bone, they struggled to afford associated bills for his care.
He traveled several hours to be at the Hartford gathering alongside his friend Auri Garia.
“My mom is an immigrant, and I am not,” Garcia, a 14-year-old from Stamford, said. “I've seen different perspectives because of her.”
“Sometimes we have health problems, and we aren't able to easily access a doctor,” Carla Esquivel, Garcia’s mom, said.
The lawmakers pushing for expanded healthcare coverage call it a human right.
“These are human beings, and they are residents of our state, and we need to do better,” Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, (D) District 18, said.
They also say it would ultimately save Connecticut taxpayers money. Additionally, the HUSKY 4 Immigrants coalition estimates expanding coverage to undocumented immigrants would lead to $63 million in savings to hospitals from reduced compensated care costs.
“These folks don't have access to preventative health care,” Sen. Derek Slap, (D) District 5, said. “What that means is they get really sick, and then they go to the emergency department. And then we as a state pay hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Patricia Oliver, who attended Wednesday’s event, knows about the financial toll of not having coverage on a personal level.
“These are six medications that I am taking,” Oliver said in Spanish.
She is fighting Type II Diabetes, and each month, the cost adds up.
“In total, it's about $300,” Oliver said, adding that she uses coupons to try to bring the cost down.
Oliver has lived in New Britain for 14 years, but she is not documented. Diabetes is deteriorating her body.
“That caused me to lose eight teeth,” she said.
Oliver says without insurance, she cannot get all the care that she needs. It is also impacting her husband and their daughter.
“Now with COVID, all three of us got sick,” Oliver said. “When we got sick, since it is too expensive to go to the doctor, we had to tell our 13-year-old-daughter to check us, to check if we were breathing because we did not want to be in debt with the doctor.”
If the legislation to expand HUSKY moves forward, the family would one that benefits. Oliver says it would mean everything.
“That would be marvelous,” she said. “That would mean we can go to the doctor. We would feel a lot more healthier. We would be able to be there for our daughter, and provide for our family.”
Gilchrest, who is co-chair of the Human Services Committee, says the bill is headed to that committee. She says next steps are raising the bill and holding a public hearing.
