Oregon judge blocks Trump’s health insurance requirement for visa applicants
Last month’s blog post described President Trump’s October 4 proclamation that would require some categories of immigrants seeking to enter the U.S. to have certain kinds of health insurance within 30 days of entry in order to obtain immigrant visas at U.S. consulates abroad. The kinds of insurance that count are so limited that the...
Congressional health care advocates keep up momentum for reform
Health care advocates and consumers should take heart that federal bills to improve health care access and affordability are advancing as far as politically possible in this divided Congress, even as the focus on impeachment hearings dims prospects for major legislation this year. The key House committees favorably reported H.R. 3, now called the “Elijah...
Immigrants and health care – Courts suspend implementation of Public Charge rule, and other developments
Within the space of one week, the Trump Administration took two new steps to stifle immigrants from getting public health coverage to which they are entitled. But last Friday three federal courts put on hold the Department of Homeland Security’s drastic changes to the”public charge” regulation: On October 11, federal district courts in Spokane, WA,...
The House Democrats’ Lower Drug Costs Now Act – A step possible this year?
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s September embrace of a “transformative” prescription drug plan on which “we do hope to have White House buy-in” sparked hearings, renewed hopes for legislation during this first year of a sharply-divided Congress, and was widely lauded as at least a “good first step” toward relieving the burden on consumers....
Patient debt is forgiven – Charity Care case in Spokane settles
On October 7, Empire Health Foundation announced that it had settled its lawsuit against Community Health Systems (CHS), the former owner of Deaconess Medical and Valley Hospital and Medical Center in Spokane from 2008-2017. The settlement requires CHS to eliminate hospital debt for thousands of former patients of the two hospitals, estimated as high as...
Breaking down the silos in health care reform
By Bevin McLeod, Co-Founder and Board President, Alliance for a Healthy Washington It’s no secret that our fragmented health care system operates in silos when administering care. We see it particularly when important communications about a patient’s care aren’t shared with the pertinent providers, resulting in care gaps, and this fragmented system plays a big...
Court hearings on the Public Charge rules in early October, and Congressional attempts to block it
Last month, we wrote about the federal government’s adoption of the new “public charge” rules that broaden the grounds for inadmissibility of some immigrants and preventing others from getting Lawful Permanent Resident (“green card”) status. NoHLA and other organizations are developing materials and trainings on these rules to explain what impact they have. We know...
The importance of communication in health care: Language access and disability access
When I applied earlier this year for a summer internship at Northwest Health Law Advocates, I wrote in my cover letter about seeking the opportunity to learn more about the kinds of legal questions and challenges that arise in the areas of health law and policy. As it happens, I spent much of this summer...
What would happen to Medicaid under “Medicare for All” and Public Option plans?
Even as litigation and rulemaking threatens the nation’s progress under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the 2020 presidential campaign has put proposals for the future of health care coverage front and center. The New York Times, CBS News, and National Public Radio were among the news media who led their coverage of the September 12...
The Department of Homeland Security Public Charge Rule is Final. Here’s what you need to know.
TAKE ACTION! Tell Policymakers to Defund the Public Charge Rule and Protect Families: Use this link from the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum to ask your member of Congress to co-sponsor H.R. 3222, the No Federal Funds for Public Charge Act of 2019, and speak out against this policy. Many immigrants and the people...