NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Starting July 1, undocumented children 15 and younger, regardless of immigration status, will now be covered by HUSKY Health, Connecticut’s Medicaid program.
Many in the legislature have been pushing to expand HUSKY for years and they see this as another big step in the right direction.
“My daughter is 13 years of age and she has benefited from the program,” said Nancy Aucapina, a patient at Fair Haven Community Health Care. “She has been able to see an eye doctor, a dentist and she has regular check-ins with her pediatric doctor.”
HUSKY has slowly been expanding over the past few years.
In 2021, state lawmakers passed a bill opening care to undocumented children ages eight and younger, growing to include those 12 and younger in 2023.
“A few years ago, we came up with this harebrained notion of making sure that kids in the state should have health insurance coverage and we put forward the idea and we were told flat out that there weren't the votes to pass it,” explained state Sen. Matt Lesser, (D-Middletown). “We didn't get out what we wanted. We were initially able to only pass coverage to cover kids up through age eight, leaving nine-year-olds, I don't know, get a job. But we've made incremental progress.”
Last year, some legislators tried to expand care to everyone 25 and younger, but the final bill, funded through the state budget, stopped at 15 years old.
“I myself am a parent, and I think many of us are parents, and as parents, we have one job to do, right. We want to protect our children,” state Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, (D-West Hartford) added. “It doesn't matter what your status is. Our role as a parent is to keep our children safe.”
The program is currently serving 12,000 kids across the state, but officials expect enrollment to grow with this new expansion.
“This policy is good for is good for the state is good for families, it saves the state money and we should embrace this as a really big deal for our families to know that some folks are able to get coverage,” Luis Luna, manager of the Husky 4 Immigrants Coalition, said. “Still about 60% of undocumented people don't have access to health care.”
While lawmakers won’t be back in the state Capitol until next January, there is still a call to expand HUSKY further next session.
Some are aiming for 18-year-olds, while others want to push again for 25, but 2025 will be a budget year so it all depends on how much money legislators can agree to allocate.
Emma Wulfhorst is a political reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at ewulfhorst@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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