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Panel advances bill to cover Medicaid/CHIP for income-qualified pregnant people and children regardless of immigration status
Summary
The committee passed HB1349, which would extend Med-QUEST (Medicaid/CHIP) coverage to income-qualified pregnant people and children regardless of immigration status; DHS provided budget coding and cost estimates for the committee report.
The House committee advanced HB1349 on Feb. 6, a measure that would authorize Medicaid coverage for income-qualified pregnant persons and children regardless of immigration status. Sandy Ma of the Legal Clinic and several health and immigrant-rights organizations testified in support, arguing the policy improves prenatal and child health outcomes and reduces the “chilling effect” that discourages immigrants from seeking care during heightened immigration enforcement.
Sari Lynn Curtis of AlohaCare and Liza Ryan Gill of the Hawaii Coalition for Immigrant Rights urged passage. Gill cited studies linking immigration enforcement to higher rates of preterm and underweight births and said connecting pregnant people to prenatal care can prevent adverse outcomes. Testimony also noted similar provisions exist in about half of U.S. states.
Department of Human Services staff provided budget coding for the proposal: DHS said the proposal would fall under HMS401 (Med-QUEST). Committee discussion focused on funding; the committee report will incorporate DHS’s technical estimate. Chair Martin said the committee would include the DHS cost estimates in the committee report: the DHS testimony gave category-level cost estimates for inclusion (pregnant: $744,000 A funds; postpartum: $620,000 A funds; children with CHIP: $2,000,982 A funds) and the committee voted to advance the bill with amendments and to defect the date.
Ending: HB1349 was advanced with amendments; the committee directed staff to include DHS’s budget estimates in the committee report and to defect the effective date pending appropriation and drafting clarifications.
