Michigan is waiving Medicaid waiting periods for green card holders, allowing them access to healthcare. This move shows a positive shift in immigration policies.
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State waives Medicaid waiting period for green card holders
Some non-citizens living in Michigan can now apply for Medicaid without waiting five years.
The state has waived the waiting period for green card holders up to age 21 and pregnant women with legal status.
Susan Reed runs the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. She says the state’s immigrants are twice as likely to be UN-insured than U.S.-born residents. That includes Asian, Arab, Hispanic, and Latin American communities.
“Our reality for non-citizens, there is so much misinformation about recent changes to something called the federal public charge rule that frightens a lot of immigrant families and families with immigrant heads of household, even U.S. citizen children, but immigrant heads of household out of getting benefits,” she said
Reed says the changes also affect immigrant children and foster care youth, who are on a path to citizenship. She says the Medicaid expansion will help about 4,000 people.
Reported by Nargis Rahman, WDET
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