{
"type": "rich",
"version": "1.0",
"provider_name": "Action Network",
"provider_url": "https://actionnetwork.org",
"html": "",
"author_name": "OLHA Youth Action Network",
"author_url": "https://actionnetwork.org/groups/olha-youth-action-network",
"title": "Support lifting the 5-year bar (H.R. 9432)",
"thumbnail_url": "https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/letters/photos/000/461/066/normal/5.png",
"description": "There are approximately 13 million lawful permanent residents (LPRs) in the United States today, and roughly 5 million of them are barred from receiving federal safety-net support, including Medicaid, simply because they have not yet lived in the country for five years. According to the American Immigration Council, in 2023, households led by undocumented immigrants paid $89.8B in total taxes. Researchers project that gaining LPR status immediately yields higher compliance and upward job mobility. Despite meeting income and work requirements and paying federal, state, and local taxes, these individuals face a 5-year waiting period under the 1996 federal welfare law's "5-year bar" before they can access Medicaid, SNAP, or other safety-net programs they help fund. Excluding LPRs and other immigrants from coverage does not eliminate the cost of their care, it shifts it. When people cannot access preventive or primary care, they are more likely to end up in emergency departments, driving up uncompensated and charity care costs that hospitals ultimately pass on to everyone else in the system. Untreated chronic conditions also reduce workforce participation and productivity at a time when industries such as agriculture, construction, and caregiving are already facing labor shortages.",
"url": "https://actionnetwork.org/letters/support-lifting-the-5-year-bar-hr-9432"
}