Utah lawmaker's plan would kick immigrant kids off insurance
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah senator says he's trying to promote self-reliance and discourage "socialism" by proposing to make new legal immigrants wait five years before receiving coverage through government health insurance programs.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported Thursday that critics of State Sen. Allen Christensen's plan says it's mean-spirited and will strip health care coverage from 475 legal immigrant children.
His plan would reinstate a previous provision that required new legal immigrants to wait five years before they could qualify for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Voices for Utah Children President and CEO Lincoln Nehring says such a move would not save Utah money.