ALL CHILDREN ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL: PRWORA'S UNCONSTITUTIONAL RESTRICTION ON IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S ACCESS TO FEDERAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS

• Published in: Family court review 2006-07, Vol.44 (3), p.484-497
• Main Author: Shin, Hyejung Janet
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Children & youth; Due Process Clause; Equal Protection Clause; Health care access; Health insurance; immigrant children; Legislation; Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act of 1996; Quality of care; State Children's Health Insurance Program
• ISSN: 1531-2445; 1744-1617
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-1617.2006.00101.x

The lack of health insurance for children is a serious problem in the United States, especially for those children in families that earn too little to get private health insurance and too much to qualify for Medicare. Even within this subclass of children, immigrant children are particularly vulnerable to the problems faced by lack of health care. Nevertheless, with the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) by Congress, equality interests of low‐income immigrant children are undermined when immigrant children are denied federal benefits for the first 5 years of residency in the United States. The first part of this Note examines the importance of child health care and the long‐term problems with uninsured children, especially with uninsured immigrant children and pregnant women. The next part introduces Medicaid as well as State Children's Health Insurance Program, a supplemental federal program designed to increase health care coverage to all children, while contrasting these programs in light of the restrictive anti‐immigrant PRWORA provisions. The third part explains the passage of PRWORA, its anti‐immigrant provisions, and how these provisions prevent needy immigrant children from receiving federally funded health care. Then, the fourth part uses both the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to argue the unconstitutionality of the anti‐immigrant provisions. Finally, the last part lays out the recommendation to amend the Social Security Act so that the PRWORA barriers can be removed and recent immigrant children can receive federally funded health care.