Sarah Solon

Bush Administration Agrees with the Drum Major Institute

The Bush Administration has rescinded a dangerous decision from earlier this year. This policy would have made the low-income families of babies born in the U.S. prove their infants' citizenship before extending Medicaid benefits to those infants. Before this decision, it had been a long-standing policy that any low-income mother who used Medicaid to cover the cost of her labor and delivery automatically guaranteed that her baby would receive Medicaid benefits for one year. Over the last few months, when the Bush Administration's horrible, horrible policy was in place, it could take families months to file citizenship paperwork for their newborns. Undocumented immigrants were left leery of filing at all, having to make the tough choice between possible deportation and their citizen children's health.

Having medical coverage for the first year is crucial. Infants need many immunizations within the first few weeks of life. And the Constitution is clear: babies born on U.S. soil are citizens. Period. DMI congratulates the Bush Administration for putting infant health first, over any possible tinge of anti-immigrant sentiment.

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This policy from the Bush Administration made DMI's list of the Worst Policies of 2006. From our 2006 Year in Review:

Blaming Babies

Approximately four million babies are born in the United States each year. The cost of one-third of these deliveries is covered by Medicaid because the mothers are low-income and uninsured. Up until this July, any baby born to a mother whose delivery was paid for by Medicaid was automatically covered under the program for a year. Not any more. The Bush administration announced that parents must now file an application and present proof of citizenship for coverage of their children to kick in. Their reason? A controversial interpretation of the Deficit Reduction Act. Doctors and immigrant activists have protested, arguing that this policy is legally unnecessary, that too many infants will go without coverage in the weeks while birth certificates and Medicaid applications are being processed, and that some families won't file the applications out of fear of deportation. Opponents of the policy claim it is driven more by anti-immigrant sentiment than sound fiscal or health care policy. California has flat out objected, saying that any baby born in the U.S. is a citizen and should not need to prove it. That's enough proof to add it to our "Worst of" list.

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Posted at 10:18 AM, Mar 21, 2007 in Immigration
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