 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Jeffrey T Kullgren, MPH, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, 190 Arbor Glen Drive, Apt. 203, East Lansing, MI 48823, 517-214-7366, kullgren@msu.edu
The federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 went further than simply ending welfare as we knew it. The law also restricted the provision of many federal, state, and local publicly funded services to undocumented immigrants. Many public health and health care institutions have wrestled with the legal, administrative, and ethical conflicts generated by these limitations. The debate has been most visible in the state of Texas, where the legality of several public hospitals’ provision of free primary and preventive health care to undocumented immigrants has been challenged.
Instead of serving their intended purpose as a tool for reducing illegal immigration and conserving public resources, PRWORA’s restrictions on undocumented immigrants’ access to publicly financed health services unduly burden health care providers and threaten the health of the community at large. These deleterious effects warrant the public health community’s support of strategies to both repeal these restrictions and sustain the provision of health services irrespective of immigration status.
Participants in this session will learn about these restrictions and their implications for public health. At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to: 1) Describe PRWORA’s restrictions on the provision of primary and preventive health care services for undocumented immigrants; 2) Analyze the controversy these restrictions have incited in the state of Texas; 3) Identify ways in which these restrictions endanger community health; 4) Articulate steps public health advocates can take to maintain the provision of publicly supported health care services to undocumented populations.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Immigrants, Welfare Reform
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Handout (.ppt format, 76.0 kb)