Health care tricky for legal children of illegal parents

Editor’s note: Last names of illegal immigrants have been withheld to protect their identities.

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Mario and Laura — illegal Mexican immigrants who live in Athens — learned last month that getting state medical care for their child, who is a U.S. citizen, might not be as easy as it once seemed.

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Roberto, the couple’s 1-year-old son, was born in the United States. He therefore qualifies for federal and state-funded health care for the poor; his family’s monthly income totals $1,280 — $937 below the Medicaid poverty level set by the state Department of Community Health.

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But now Roberto, who is due for his next checkup in May, might have trouble receiving his vaccinations as planned.

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In December, Gov. Sonny Perdue beefed up Medicaid eligibility requirements in an effort to lower fraud and provide health care only to “legal residents entitled to public assistance” — a move that ultimately severs illegal immigrants from the system.

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But that decision, which has been popularly received for its effort to prevent undocumented residents from burdening the Medicaid system, may have some unforeseen consequences.

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Under the new rule, the state requires that Medicaid applicants verify their income with a W-2 form, pay stub or tax return. In the past, applicants have self-declared their income, which usually was verified months after a person had received care — if it was verified at all.

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The problem is, if parents who are illegal immigrants apply for Medicaid for their legal children, the parents will have to verify the family’s income to prove they earn less than the poverty level. And in many cases, that might be impossible. Undocumented workers who are paid in cash or work as day laborers might not be able to prove their income at all.

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“It’s imperative that procedures involving parents don’t impede the ability to receive Medicaid for children,” says Tisha Tallman, Southeast regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. “The procedure in place may be serving as a barrier to children entitled to services.”

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The form does allow workers to forgo a W-2 or pay stub if their employer signs a statement verifying their income.

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But Sister Margarita Martin, an immigrant advocate in Athens who’s assisting Roberto’s parents, says many employers would deny such a request.

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It doesn’t help that the Legislature is considering a bill that would fine those who employ illegal immigrants between $12,000 and $25,000 per worker.

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And Martin says that even if illegal parents do get a signature from their employer, there’s no way of guaranteeing that incriminating information contained in the forms won’t be passed on to customs officials.

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Ari Young, a spokesman for the state Division of Family and Children Services, the agency that distributes Medicaid applications, says the form asks for the employer signature only to prove that the family income is below the poverty line.

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But many illegal immigrants wonder whether the state can be trusted. For instance, a provision of an immigration bill snaking through the Senate until recently would have required state agencies, including DFACS, to report any suspected illegal immigrants. (Sen. Sam Zamarripa, D-Atlanta, was successful in urging the bill’s sponsor to remove that provision.)

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“It’s not right that the parents have to choose between getting health care for their family or possibly getting into trouble,” Martin says.

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Tallman says the legal defense fund has heard from a handful of families facing that very dilemma. Members of the Latin American Association and the Hispanic Health Coalition of Georgia also say parents have come to them with questions about the new rule.

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“Roberto’s care has nothing to do with the status of us,” says his father, Mario, speaking through a translator. “He is an American citizen and has a right to these services.”

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GET INVOLVED: For more info, go to www.maldef.org.