Health program for undocumented seniors leaves some behind

CHICAGO (AP) – Editors’ note: Injustice Watch and Chicago Tribune teamed up to report on the challenges facing Illinois’ aging undocumented population. This is the second installment in a series focused on access to health care and housing. Leer en español. ___ For more than a decade, Ananias Ocampo pushed a heavy ice cream cart through the streets of the Pilsen neighborhood as he waited for knee replacement surgery. When it got too cold for ice cream, the 78-year-old would go door-to-door selling homemade cheese even though he depended on a walker. ‘œIt was a blessing to be able to work,’� he said in Spanish. Even as his pace got slower and he developed Parkinson’s disease, he had no option other than to keep working to sustain himself. Like most undocumented immigrants who are ineligible for the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs, Ocampo did not have health insurance. And though he received care at a public hospital, he had to keep waiting for the surgery. ‘œPero nunca perdí la esperanza,’� he smiled. ‘œI never lost hope.’� ___ The nonprofit news outlet Injustice Watch provided this article to The Associated Press through a collaboration with Institute for Nonprofit News. ___ In December 2020, Ocampo got a lifeline when Illinois lawmakers passed a new Medicaid-like program that covers low-income residents age 65 and older, regardless of their immigration status. But it was bittersweet. Unlike standard Medicaid coverage for U.S. citizens, the new health care program does not include funding for long-term care facilities like rehabilitation centers, nursing homes and other home and community-based services. That means that Ocampo – who lives alone and has no family in Chicago who could take care of him after the intensive surgery – would not qualify to stay at a rehab facility as he recovered. The street vendor decided to go forward with the surgery when Hilda Burgos, 54, a health care advocate, pledged to care for him after the surgery. She rallied community members to donate essentials, and raised funds to ensure that Ocampo had enough money to pay rent. ‘œUnfortunately, there are many more undocumented elders that live alone, or whose families cannot afford or don’t have the ability to care for them as they age,’� Burgos said. ‘œThat means that even if they now have better access to health care, many more of their needs to better their quality of life are not addressed.’� Ocampo’s case illustrates the promises and pitfalls in Illinois’ Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program. As it stands, the program makes critical health services available to a vulnerable population who often leave chronic illnesses unattended due to a lack of insurance, according to health experts. And in May, the program also will be available for unauthorized immigrants age 55 and older. But the carve-outs for extended care and at-home health care still leave a critical gap in coverage, health experts say, and force the economic and emotional responsibility of caregiving onto undocumented seniors’ families and communities. That formula could be a problem for Illinois as the number of seniors living in the U.S. without authorization is set to grow exponentially over the next decade. A recent report by Rush University Medical Center and demographer Rob Paral estimates that the undocumented senior population in the state will hit 55,000 by 2030, up from nearly 4,000 in 2017.