This moment makes it clear that each and every person’s health and well-being is intertwined. Yet, the policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic has explicitly left many immigrant families out. This is particularly troubling in Arizona where more than one in four children are growing up in an immigrant household. Immigrant households are heavily represented in front-line essential jobs and nearly 16 percent of small businesses are owned by a foreign-born Arizonan.

However, immigrants who paid and filed their taxes using an individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) are ineligible for federal stimulus payments and unemployment benefits. Under the federal CARES Act, stimulus payments are denied to entire families if the tax filer (or their spouse, if filing jointly) uses an ITIN, rather than a social security number.

In Arizona, 104,000 children live in an immigrant household that did not receive a stimulus payment due to an ITIN filing.

In addition to financial relief, state lawmakers can ensure everyone has access to no-cost testing, treatment, and preventive services for COIVD-19 regardless of their immigration status. Many families in Arizona have withdrawn from or have not applied for health benefits they are eligible for due to fear and uncertainty surrounding harmful policies like “public charge”. While other states have used new federal flexibilities to expand where undocumented immigrants can access emergency Medicaid (AHCCCS) for COVID-19 testing and treatment, Arizona has not. States can also allocate state funds to provide Medicaid and CHIP (KidsCare) services to all children, regardless of their immigration status.

The exclusion of certain immigrants undermines our economic recovery and public health. The next federal COVID-19 legislation should extend CARES Act financial payments to ITIN filers and Arizona should expand emergency Medicaid (AHCCCS) for immigrant families who need it.

Read the full fact sheet.

UnidosUS and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families co-released a new report with a discouraging picture of Latino children’s health coverage in Arizona. The new report sends an urgent call to lawmakers to improve access to affordable health coverage for Latino children in our state during the pandemic. According to the CDC, over half of children (53 percent) diagnosed with COVID-19 in the US are Latino.

The report finds that more than 80,000 Latino children in Arizona are uninsured. This represents a rate of 10.4 percent, significantly higher than that of non-Latino children in Arizona at 6.3 percent. Latino children are more than 1.5 times more likely to be uninsured than their non-Latino peers and children who identify as both American Indian/Alaska Native and Latino are more than 3 times as likely to be uninsured.

Though Latino workers have a higher participation rate in the labor market, they are significantly less likely to have access to coverage through employer-sponsored health insurance. For this reason, strengthening access to coverage must be an essential component of increasing health access for Latino children and curbing the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Latino children.

Arizona’s leaders can take these bold steps to make sure all children can access health care:

• Arizona’s Medicaid program should allow COVID-19 treatment provided in any setting to be covered by emergency AHCCCS.
• Arizona should invest in culturally-appropriate outreach and enrollment efforts and should raise awareness of the importance of health coverage for children of all ages.
• Arizona should adopt the Immigrant Children’s Health Improvement Act (ICHIA) Option in Medicaid and CHIP, which would allow AHCCCS and KidsCare to cover many more immigrant children. Additionally, state funds should be allocated to cover ALL Arizona children, regardless of citizenship status.
• Increase KidsCare income eligibility to the national median of 250 percent of the federal poverty limit, to extend coverage to many more uninsured children who fall just above the income threshold.

Policy decisions about coverage options, especially in times of crisis, have a profound effect on children and can intensify existing racial and ethnic disparities during a crisis. We must continue to raise awareness of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color and to push for solutions that directly address health inequities.

In these unprecedented times, it’s more important than ever to prioritize access to quality, affordable health coverage and a robust health care safety net for every Arizonan.

Yet, the Affordable Care Act is under attack. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is among those leading the charge to repeal the hallmark health care legislation. The Supreme Court of the United States is slated to hear the case this fall. Their decision could overturn all or some crucial elements of the ACA – including Medicaid expansion, mandatory coverage for the ten essential health benefits, and protection for individuals with preexisting conditions, to name just a few.

On June 5^th, Governor Ducey signed Senate Bill 1397 into law. This bill, sponsored by state Senator J.D. Mesnard, and backed by Attorney General Brnovich, provides protection to Arizonans living with a deniable health condition in the event that the ACA is ruled unconstitutional – but the legislation does not go nearly far enough. Though the bill prohibits insurers from denying coverage, it does not contain the community rating or the essential health benefits provisions. Community rating guarantees a person won’t be charged much higher premiums because of a pre-existing condition. Without these critical protections Arizonans may be presented with a devil's bargain: pay exorbitant insurance premiums or lose access to lifesaving health care.

Without comprehensive federal legislation, the critical health benefits and rights afforded by the ACA would be severely weakened, and families in Arizona would be left with gaps in a patchwork of state-level laws governing health care.

Join over a thousand Arizonans who have signed our petition urging Attorney General Brnovich to remove himself from the California v. Texas lawsuit today, and tell all our lawmakers: #AZNeedstheACA.

In the midst of a global pandemic, undermining our nation’s health care system could mean the difference between life and death for everyday Arizonans. Over the past few months, Children’s Action Alliance has been closely monitoring action in a federal lawsuit that could overturn all or some of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA provides Americans with critical protections, rights, and options when it comes to our health care. The case, now named California v. Texas, has been escalated to the US Supreme Court. Opening briefs will be filed beginning next month and oral arguments will likely occur in the fall of this year.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is arguing to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Brnovich acted alone when he joined Arizona in the lawsuit that threatens the health of our economy and Arizona families. Twenty million Americans stand to lose their health coverage if Attorney General Brnovich and the other plaintiffs are successful in proving the ACA is unconstitutional. In Arizona, over 2.8 million people have a pre-existing condition. Nearly 63,000 school-aged children and over 3,100 former foster youth have health coverage today, thanks to provisions of the ACA.

We urge Attorney General Brnovich to withdraw Arizona from the California v. Texas lawsuit. We need you to lend your voice and sign our petition urging withdrawal from the suit.

Our lives are on the line. Tell Attorney General Brnovich to pull out of this harmful, reckless lawsuit today. Share this petition and your story using the hashtag #AZNeedsTheACA.

COVID-19 is a powerful reminder that regardless of where we come from or how we make a living, everyone should have what we need to be well. For many immigrant families the pandemic has exacerbated existing uncertainty and fears about seeking medical care. On March 13, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that testing, prevention, or treatment for COVID-19, would NOT be used against immigrants in a public charge test or green card application. Immigrant and mixed-status families are encouraged to seek the care they need.

Click Here to Download the COVID-19 Immigrant Resources Guide in English and Spanish

Reminders for navigating public charge during COVID-19:

• Public benefits used by your family members will not count against your application. If your children or family members are citizens or already have green cards, they should continue to use the benefits for which they are eligible.
• Emergency Medicaid/AHCCCS will not count against your green card application.
• Medicaid/AHCCCS used by children under age 21 will not count against your green card application.
• Health care provided by community health centers will not count against your green card application.
• Unemployment benefits are considered an “earned benefit” and will not count against your green card application.

Great news! For the duration of the COVID-19 emergency, KidsCare health coverage premiums and any premium balances are waived! Arizona will also stop disenrollment of AHCCCS/Medicaid participants, unless the individual moves out of state or voluntarily opts out of coverage. Participants who were disenrolled during the month of March will have their coverage reinstated for the duration of the emergency.

Children’s Action Alliance commends this step and supports efforts by AHCCCS and the Governor’s office to remove financial barriers to receiving health care. This virus can only be contained if people are able to access the testing and treatment they need quickly and seamlessly. This decision truly affirms our state Medicaid agency’s commitment to stopping COVID-19. To further reduce barriers to care and help Arizona contain this crisis, CAA urges AHCCCS to expand presumptive eligibility and reinstate prior quarter coverage. These steps will reduce administrative barriers for participants and will enable people to seek health care while their applications are being processed.

A health coverage navigator can help you find low- or no-cost health insurance. To make an appointment with a navigator, visit http://coveraz.org/connector or call 1-800-377-3536. If you are not eligible for Medicaid/AHCCCS coverage, you can seek low or no-cost care at a federally qualified community health center (FQHC). To find an FQHC near you, visit https://www.aachc.org/communityhealthcenters/health-centers.

Earlier this month the Trump Administration released a budget proposal that calls for significant cuts to health care. Though Congress is unlikely to act on the proposal, it offers a glimpse into the President’s health priorities in 2021 and beyond.

The $4.8 trillion executive budget proposal would make the tax cuts prescribed by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, at a cost of $1.5 trillion. In an effort to balance the budget, these tax cuts would be paid for by slashing budgets for Medicaid and other safety net programs.

The proposed budget calls for roughly $1.6 trillion in cuts to federal healthcare programs over the span of a decade, including:

• $844 billion in cuts related to the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, though the budget does not define a replacement strategy
• $920 billion in cuts to Medicaid, including $150 billion in cuts related to the implementation of work reporting requirements
• $79 billion in cuts tied to restricting eligibility for federal disability benefits

Although we are unlikely to see this budget enacted through Congress, we will likely see federal agencies pursue these priorities and programmatic cuts through administrative means.

CAA will continue to monitor the federal budget and will keep you abreast of any efforts to cut services.

After months of controversy and litigation, we have some bad news about the Department of Homeland Security’s Public Charge rule.

The US Supreme Court has issued a stay on the nationwide injunction against the rule, meaning the the final rule will go into effect later this month on February 24, 2020.

The final rule will make it harder for some legal immigrants who use certain public benefits to become lawful permanent residents, or green card holders.

The final rule does not apply to all immigrants, but will impact green card applicants and immigrants who apply for reentry after leaving the country for more than 180 days in a row. The rule will not impact people who already have citizenship or a green card, or those with certain immigration statuses, like refugees or asylees. The rule does not apply to KidsCare (CHIP) or to children under 21 who participate in AHCCCS (Medicaid).

Under the new rule, use of the following benefits for more than 12 months out of a 36 month period MAY negatively influence a person’s green card application: long term care paid by the government, cash assistance (through SSI, TANF, or others), section 8 or other federal housing programs, SNAP (food stamps), and AHCCCS (except for young people under age 21, pregnant women and moms up to 60 days postpartum, and emergency AHCCCS).

The legality of the rule is still being played out in the courts. Families with questions should speak with an immigration attorney. To find a list of local legal resources click here.

Fact sheets about the rule are available here in English and Spanish.