CT MirrorApril 4, 2020
Working in conjunction with our medical partners Dr. Julia Rosemberg, Dr. Kiki Kennedy, and Dr. Andrea Asnes, the Center’s Medical-Legal team drafted and forwarded a letter to Governor Lamont and key state commissioners and legislators requesting that the state expand HUSKY insurance programs to include undocumented children and families.
As the federal government tries to rush billions of dollars to individuals, businesses and states to combat the coronavirus pandemic, one group has been left out – the nation’s undocumented immigrants. For a large group of Connecticut doctors, that presents a problem.
Congress has approved more than $2 trillion to deliver direct payments to most taxpayers, vastly expand unemployment benefits, and make testing for the coronavirus free. But, while undocumented immigrants are not immune to the coronavirus crisis, they have not been included in any government benefits program, putting them at economic and health risks that will impede public health efforts to stop the spread of the virus, a group of 185 doctors say.
On Friday they asked Gov. Ned Lamont to help undocumented immigrants in the state by allowing them to enroll in
HUSKY, the state’s Medicaid system, so they can receive free COVID-19 testing and treatment for the disease.
