Roughly 5 million undocumented immigrants will be protected from deportation under President Barack Obama's most recent executive order, according to a report from Politico.
The impact of President Obama's undocumented workers plan will extend beyond the boundaries of immigration to also affect healthcare in the following seven ways:
1. Given the policy change, many undocumented workers who previously feared deportation will now be able to obtain jobs with health insurance. They will not, however, be eligible for coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
2. Despite undocumented workers being banned from the health reform coverage, PPACA exchange enrollment will likely increase among Latinos anyway, according to the report. Reason being, millions of legal residents have remained uninsured for years to protect undocumented family members from being discovered and deported. With that fear assuaged, enrollment will likely grow.
3. Following the first PPACA open enrollment period last year, the uninsured rate among working-age Hispanic adults dropped from 36 to 23 percent, a trend that is likely to continue. As immigration advocates and the Department of Health and Human Services push toward increasing health coverage among legal Latinos, the number of uninsured will continue to drop.
4. In fact, during the first weekend of this year's open enrollment period alone, roughly 20,000 of the 200,000 calls made to Healthcare.gov's call centers were directed to Spanish-speaking representatives, according to the report.
5. Although President Obama's immigration plan will increase PPACA enrollment among legal, Latino residents, safety-net providers may see a jump in visits from undocumented patients who don't qualify for coverage, driving up uncompensated care costs.
6. To combat losing money on uncompensated care, many states have worked on plans to expand the care options for undocumented adults and children alike.
7. Additionally, the interest in the Latino healthcare market among many private companies will be piqued so we can expect to see a rise in organizations offering care resources and services to these new, protected consumers.