🔒Many immigrants with legal status could lose Medicare coverage

Hundreds of immigrants lawfully present in Connecticut are slated to lose their Medicare coverage by January, the latest federal cutback that’s spurred some lawmakers and advocates here to call for state intervention.

But whether state officials will intervene early next year hinges not only on this fall’s gubernatorial campaign but also on which other distressed groups the General Assembly is looking to assist.

“This is year another inhumane, unconscionable action by an administration that targets people who have paid into Medicare, who have lawful status,” said Maggie Mitchell Salem, executive director of Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, or IRIS, a New Haven-based nonprofit. “And it creates very real harm for individuals and families in the state of Connecticut and across the country.”

Salem is referencing a provision in the 2025 federal budget reconciliation measure, commonly referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act or House Resolution 1, through which President Donald Trump and Congress changed rules that allow certain noncitizens to participate in Medicare and other benefits.

Lawfully present immigrants had been eligible for the federal medical insurance program if they met certain work history, disability or age requirements. The reconciliation measure limited eligibility to green card holders and certain immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that roughly 100,000 individuals nationally would lose Medicare coverage because of this provision. And though it didn’t provide state-by-state data, Connecticut contains 1% to 1.1% of the health insurance program’s caseload. That would translate, roughly, into 1,000 to 1,100 lawfully present immigrants here slated to lose coverage.

And though it is unclear exactly how many immigrants might lose coverage, Salem and the co-chairs of the General Assembly’s Public Health Committee — Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, and Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield — said there could be a measurable impact on Connecticut’s hospitals and federally qualified health centers, which already are under financial strain.

Those that cannot afford healthcare not only seek free service through hospitals and health centers but also tend to wait until minor health conditions become severe, Anwar said.

“It is very clear in study after study that prevention is always better than cure, and our emergency rooms are overwhelmed,” he added.

“Hospitals are deeply concerned that new federal policies restricting access to Medicaid and Medicare, including changes affecting immigrant populations, as well as the loss of [Affordable Care Act] subsidies, will leave more people uninsured and increase uncompensated care,” the Connecticut Hospital Association wrote in a statement this week.

The CHA also called for “state and federal leaders to partner with hospitals to protect access to coverage and address growing financial pressures across the healthcare delivery system.”

Connecticut reached a new taxing arrangement with its hospitals this past spring that’s designed to bolster the industry by more than $1.6 billion over the next five years.

Shawn K. Frick, president and CEO of the Community Health Center Association of Connecticut, added that, “This loss of coverage due to HR 1 threatens the health of Connecticut residents and adds stress to an already-stretched healthcare system. Our health centers remain committed to serving all people, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.”

The cost of treating the uninsured via hospital emergency rooms and health centers ultimately is borne by insured patients, taxpayers and healthcare providers, McCarthy Vahey noted, and said preserving access to care benefits many.

“All of these [federal] changes to healthcare, in the end, are just going to make healthcare more expensive and make our population more unhealthy,” she said.

Both Public Health Committee chairs welcomed a discussion on using a special state reserve to assist immigrants losing Medicare.

Gov. Ned Lamont and the legislature have set aside $550 million from past state budget surpluses to mitigate cuts to federal healthcare, social and other programs. Lamont’s budget office reported last month that more than $263 million remained in the fund.

But when the 2027 legislation session convenes Jan. 6, some legislators are expected to recommend tapping the fund to help many groups, including low- and moderate-income families who’ve lost federal subsidies to buy health insurance; more than 30,000 adults and children who’ve lost Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits; and about 110,000 poor adults expected to lose Medicaid coverage.

Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, said a legislative debate on Connecticut’s role in mitigating federal program cuts is almost a certainty next year. Some forms of temporary assistance may become ongoing. Others may end.

But Osten said state intervention in the healthcare arena likely will have many advocates. Residents “need to have some stability, and if they have to worry every year if they can afford health care, it’s going to be a problem.”

Lamont, a fiscal moderate hoping to win a third term this fall, has cautioned that Connecticut cannot backfill all federal cuts. But the governor also has compromised with his fellow Democrats in the legislature’s majority to approve several temporary assistance programs using the special state surplus fund.

Referring to all groups in need, the governor said this week, “We’re going take care of them as best we can.” But Connecticut also has existing job training, education and other programs to help at-risk residents reduce their need for public assistance — from any level of government — and Lamont added he hopes broader structural solutions can be found as an alternative to a temporary bailout whenever possible.

His Republican opponent, Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich, said Connecticut cannot ask its taxpayers to solve all problems created by the federal government, adding the special surplus is “effectively a slush fund” that Lamont and the Democratic majority can use to support their constituencies.

“We need to prioritize vital services for Connecticut residents,” Fazio added, noting the special surplus fund was created outside of the formal budget and isn’t subject to normal fiscal caps.