The new federal health care reform law will benefit California and its diverse immigrant communities. However, many in Californians and their immigrant family members, despite working, still lack affordable health care. In order to reap real benefits from the new law, CIPC is working to ensure that policy-makers implement health reform in California in a way that works for all Californians.
Below is information about the new health reform law, and its implementation in California. For information about our advocacy to protect Medi-Cal for recent lawful immigrants in California, please see our Budget Action page.
Health Care Reform: Implementation in California
"Making the Affordable Care Act Work for Immigrants in California"
CIPC is closely monitoring California's implementation of the new health law, including legislation and regulations being developed in Sacramento. In partnership with our allies at the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network and its Having Our Say Coalition, the Western Center on Law and Poverty, and Health Access California, we are working to ensure that immigrants and communities of color are not left behind.
Health Care Reform: Federal Advocacy
CIPC is working with allies, including the Coalition for Immigrant Equity in Health Care and the Health Rights Organizing Project, at the federal level to protect the advances won in the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) and to address the remaining obstacles immigrants face accessing quality health care.
Among the issues we are tracking:
- Elimination of the 5 year waiting period for lawful immigrants (the waiting period was not eliminated by ACA at the federal level )
- Adequate appropriations for clinics, community transformation grants, and other measures in the ACA
- Weighing in on regulations by HHS and others that will affect implementation
Our work in health care reform is grounded in this statement of principles from the Coalition for Immigrant Equity in Health Care:
