Written in partnership with:
What is the Public Charge rule?
On October 10, the Department of Homeland Security announced the “public charge” rule. This rule allows the U.S. to keep out people who may become a “public charge.” Someone is called a “public charge” if the government thinks you might depend on government benefits to meet your needs. Someone who is called a “public charge” will be discriminated against if they try to enter the U.S. (get a visa) or get a green card (become a permanent resident).
The proposed rule is unfair, dangerous, and blatantly discriminatory. The rule would exclude people from this country simply because they have a disability.
The U.S. has already had a public charge rule for a long time. The new rule will make things much worse. Under the old rule, someone was only considered a public charge if they used cash benefits, like social security or TANF, or if they lived in an institution. The new rule uses a much bigger list of programs and benefits, and it also looks at other things like someone’s health and income.
The Rule Discourages the Use of Important Programs and Benefits
The new rule will discourage families from using important services for fear of harming their immigration status. People with disabilities and our families often need to use government benefits in order to stay fed, housed, and healthy. Under the new rule, using–or even just applying for–these benefits will count against us. Some of the programs and benefits that will count against us under this new rule are:
- Medicaid
- Food stamps, or SNAP
- Medicare Part D assistance
- Section 8 housing assistance
- Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP (they are still deciding whether to include this program)
In addition, the rule will also look at someone’s income. If someone or their family is lowincome, that will count against them.
The Rule is An Attack on Medicaid
The public charge rule is another attack on the basic services people with disabilities receive through Medicaid. The new rule includes the Medicaid-funded services that help people with disabilities stay in our homes, work, go to school, and live in our communities. These services are sometimes called waiver services, personal care services, nursing services, respite, intensive mental health services, and employment supports.
This creates an unfair choice for people with disabilities and our families. Medicaid is the only source for community living supports for people with disabilities. Community services simply aren’t available under private insurance. This rule will force immigrant families to choose between surviving without needed community services or being denied entry into this country just because their family member has a disability and might need services.
The Rule Discriminates Against People with Disabilities
The proposed rule directly discriminates against people with disabilities and chronic health conditions. In addition to benefits, the rule looks at a person’s health to decide if they will become a public charge. If someone has certain medical conditions, that counts against them. If someone doesn’t have a medical condition or a disability, the rule says that is a “positive factor.” This is unfair and discriminatory to people with disabilities and chronic health conditions.
The rule specially calls out people with the “most expensive health conditions,” including:
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Trauma
- Mental health conditions
The rule also looks at whether or not a person can obtain private health insurance to pay for the medical costs the government thinks they will have because of their chronic health condition or disability. If someone doesn’t have health insurance, that counts against them. But because many important community services are only available through Medicaid and are not covered by private insurance, many people with disabilities won’t pass this test.
In other words, the proposed rule would exclude people with disabilities simply because they have a disability.
The Rule Isn’t Final Yet
If the new rule is put into practice, it will hurt many immigrants and immigrant families, including people with disabilities. But there is still time. For the next 60 days, the Department of Homeland Security is taking comments on the rule. Anyone can comment on the rule, and the government is required to read and respond to the comments. It is critical that the disability community sends in as many comments as possible explaining why this rule is dangerous and discriminatory and why it should not be put into practice. If we all speak up, we can keep this rule from being implemented.
For more information, please visit https://medicaid.publicrep.org/feature/public-charge/ and https://protectingimmigrantfamilies.org/. These websites include information and resources on how to comment.
For more information on this and other topics, visit
- www.thearc.org
- ASAN: autisticadvocacy.org
- CPR: centerforpublicrep.org
Like!! Thank you for publishing this awesome article.
I like the valuable information you provide in your articles.
A big thank you for your article.
I always spent my half an hour to read this web site’s articles or reviews daily along with a mug of coffee.
Very good article! We are linking to this particularly great content on our site. Keep up the great writing.
I’m the proprietor of JustCBD Store company (justcbdstore.com) and I’m presently seeking to develop my wholesale side of business. I am hoping anybody at targetdomain is able to provide some guidance ! I thought that the best way to accomplish this would be to reach out to vape companies and cbd retail stores. I was really hoping if anybody could suggest a dependable site where I can buy Vape Shop Business Lists I am currently looking at creativebeartech.com, theeliquidboutique.co.uk and wowitloveithaveit.com. Unsure which one would be the best option and would appreciate any support on this. Or would it be easier for me to scrape my own leads? Suggestions?
You’ve made some decent points there. I checked on the web for additional information about the issue and found most individuals will go along with your views on this website.
Oh my goodness! Amazing article dude! Many thanks, However I am having problems with your RSS. I don’t understand why I cannot join it. Is there anyone else getting similar RSS problems? Anybody who knows the solution will you kindly respond? Thanx!!
You ought to be a part of a contest for one of the finest websites on the web. I most certainly will recommend this website!
Hi there! This post couldn’t be written much better! Looking at this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He always kept talking about this. I’ll send this information to him. Pretty sure he’ll have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!
I blog quite often and I genuinely appreciate your content. This great article has truly peaked my interest. I am going to take a note of your site and keep checking for new details about once per week. I subscribed to your Feed as well.
I used to be able to find good advice from your blog posts.
Hey there! I just wish to give you a huge thumbs up for your excellent info you have here on this post. I am coming back to your web site for more soon.
Can I just say what a comfort to uncover an individual who truly knows what they are talking about on the web. You actually know how to bring a problem to light and make it important. More people ought to read this and understand this side of the story. I can’t believe you aren’t more popular because you most certainly possess the gift.
I have been surfing online more than three hours these days,
yet I by no means discovered any fascinating article like yours.
It’s lovely price enough for me. Personally, if all site owners and bloggers made good
content as you probably did, the web will likely be
a lot more helpful than ever before.
Thanks for sharing such a pleasant opinion, paragraph is
nice, thats why i have read it entirely adreamoftrains web hosting
Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I’ve really
enjoyed browsing your blog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing to
your rss feed and I hope you write again very soon!
Hi there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Chrome.
I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I
figured I’d post to let you know. The design and style look great
though! Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Many thanks
You really make it appear so easy together with your presentation however I find this topic to be really one thing that I think I would never understand.
It kind of feels too complicated and extremely broad for me.
I am taking a look forward to your subsequent submit, I will
attempt to get the cling of it!
Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your web site
and in accession capital to assert that I get actually enjoyed account
your blog posts. Anyway I will be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement you access consistently quickly.
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you penning this write-up plus the rest of the site is really good.