Government to deny medical care to undocumented immigrants

The Bush administration has added the denial of emergency Medicaid funds to its arsenal of weapons used to terrorize undocumented immigrant workers.

The federal government has informed New York’s state authorities that Medicaid funds cannot be used to provide chemotherapy to undocumented immigrants. Following a recently concluded audit, the federal government has denied $60 million in matching emergency Medicaid funds between 2001 and 2006, including $11.1 million for chemotherapy.
Medicaid permits emergency coverage for non-citizens. But the Bush administration increasingly has been denying funds that should be covered, like chemotherapy. The treatment of cancer is considered emergency care under the federal government’s own rule.

In New York, chemotherapy funds have been at the heart of a struggle between the federal government and a somewhat reluctant state government. The state government has been pushed to take a position on the issue by immigrant and healthcare rights activists and advocates.