The program enrolled over 9,000 people in its first year, but doesn’t cover long-term care — a dangerous pitfall for many undocumented seniors.
The Chicago Tribune and Injustice Watch teamed up to report on the challenges facing Illinois’ aging undocumented population. This is the second installment in a four-part series focused on access to health care and housing. Read part oneFor more than a decade, Ananias Ocampo pushed a heavy ice cream cart through the streets of the Pilsen neighborhood as he waited for knee replacement surgery.
Ocampo’s case illustrates the promises and pitfalls in Illinois’ Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program. As it stands, the program makes critical health services available to a vulnerable population who often leave chronic illnesses unattended due to a lack of insurance, according to health experts. And in May, the program also will be available for unauthorized immigrants age 55 and older.
by Rush University Medical Center and demographer Rob Paral estimates that the undocumented senior population in the state will hit 55,000 by 2030, up from nearly 4,000 in 2017., said the state and federal governments need to find ways to provide comprehensive health care for this population before it hits crisis levels.
Illinois was the first state to fully fund this type of health coverage for undocumented seniors. Shortly after, California approved a program to cover adults 50 and older, and Oregon’s governor signed a plan to offer health care coverage to low-income adults over age 19 regardless of immigration status.
Doctors, health advocates and the senior enrollees themselves say Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults has been nothing short of life-changing. “So if people are incapacitated to the point where they can’t function on their own to do their activities of daily living like cooking, cleaning, eating, bathing, then essentially there’s no option for them and the family has to basically work around the clock to provide that for the member,” Stanley said. “And if they’re not able to, then that person will inevitably end up in the hospital or severely sick or injured.
State lawmakers and policy advocates said they haven’t seen the numbers the department used to justify the carve-outs. “They told us that it’s too expensive,” said state Rep. Delia Ramirez, chief co-sponsor of the legislation that created the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program Ramirez, who is running for Congress this year, said she and her colleagues behind the program are working to get the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to fill in the programs’ gaps for seniors. “We’ve made it clear to HFS that we expect to be included as we roll out this next program,” she said.
Jimenez and Mizis applaud the creation of the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program. But as the population they serve grows every year, Jimenez is concerned about the alliance’s ability to keep up. “We are already in need of more resources to serve better and provide more resources to the elders and their families. I worry that as the population grows, we just won’t have enough funding,” he said.
“I didn’t know how, but I decided that I was going to care for him and prayed that God gave me the strength to do it, just like I would care for my son or my father,” Burgos said.
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