Undocumented Immigrants To Strain Safety-Net Hospitals

Undocumented immigrants are expected to make up a larger share of Connecticut’s uninsured population next year, putting new financial pressures on safety-net hospitals that provide emergency care to everyone, state and national health experts predict. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides coverage options for legal immigrants, but those in the U.S. illegally cannot apply for Medicaid, even if they are poor, or buy coverage at Access Health CT (the new insurance marketplace), even if they have cash. That means illegal residents without coverage will continue turning to local emergency departments for care at a time when Connecticut hospitals face the loss of millions of dollars in federal and state subsidies to help defray the cost of uncompensated care. “This is a global problem that isn’t going away. This population (of undocumented residents) is not being addressed by any state or federal initiatives.

Asian-Americans Shun Mental Health Care

When the planes hit the World Trade Center on 9-11, clients rushed to a Hartford clinic in a panic. They were, for the most part, Southeast Asians who’d immigrated to this country after the Vietnam War. The clients, not fluent in English and still suffering from PTSD, came in hysterics crying, “Is it happening again? Is it happening again?”

Connecticut has just one clinic funded by the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services that treats primarily Asian-Americans. The clinic, in Hartford, serves Connecticut’s Asian-Pacific community, which includes people from 21 countries who speak 35 different languages.