Immigrant struggles compounded by old age, By Kirk Semple, July 25, 2013, New York Times: “After retiring from his job as a security guard in 2011, Wahid Ali spent his days struggling against tedium. Speaking only limited English and with few friends, he had little to do and mainly stayed at home, a small rented room in an illegal basement apartment in Coney Island. But the tougher fight was financial. Mr. Ali, 78, had meager savings, and his wife had not worked since they immigrated to the United States from Pakistan in 2006. So the couple depended on his monthly Social Security check of less than $600…”
Tag: Immigrants
Affordable Care Act and Safety-Net Hospitals
Hospitals fear cuts in aid for care to illegal immigrants, By Nina Bernstein, July 26, 2012, New York Times: “President Obama’s health care law is putting new strains on some of the nation’s most hard-pressed hospitals, by cutting aid they use to pay for emergency care for illegal immigrants, which they have long been required to provide. The federal government has been spending $20 billion annually to reimburse these hospitals – most in poor urban and rural areas – for treating more than their share of the uninsured, including illegal immigrants. The health care law will eventually cut that money in half, based on the premise that fewer people will lack insurance after the law takes effect. But the estimated 11 million people now living illegally in the United States are not covered by the health care law. Its sponsors, seeking to sidestep the contentious debate over immigration, excluded them from the law’s benefits…”
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Kansas
Kansas food stamp policy becomes a political tangle, By Laura Bauer and Brad Cooper, March 15, 2012, Kansas City Star: “Months after a new Kansas policy cut food stamps going to thousands of children, some lawmakers are mounting efforts to help those families. But they’re finding it’s difficult when the issue involves families with some members who are living in the country illegally. Legislative leaders don’t appear eager to tackle any illegal immigration issue in an election year. Earlier this week, senators in Topeka proposed an amendment to the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services budget that ultimately could have restored some aid to the children who are U.S. citizens but whose parents are illegal immigrants. But on Wednesday, the amendment was dropped…”