{"id":12635,"date":"2026-07-21T14:36:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T09:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=12635"},"modified":"2026-07-21T14:36:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T09:36:07","slug":"trump-public-charge-rule-resets-health-test-for-green-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=12635","title":{"rendered":"Trump &quot;public charge&quot; rule resets health test for green cards"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/I-K9FhdpZnJNqpP1xQjnNeXx7a4=\/0x0:1920x1080\/1366x768\/2025\/07\/14\/1752525645314.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration formally laid the groundwork Monday to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/11\/20\/trump-public-charge-rule-health-impact\" target=\"_blank\">weigh immigrants&#8217; use<\/a> of programs like Medicaid and CHIP in determining whether they should get permanent residency. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters:<\/strong> The policy shift could discourage immigrant families from seeking health coverage if it could put their legal status at risk, public health groups warn. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<ul>\n<li>That could increase emergency room use, raise the cost of uncompensated care and widen health disparities, according to health policy experts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Driving the news:<\/strong> The Department of Homeland Security <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2026\/07\/20\/2026-14539\/public-charge-ground-of-inadmissibility\" target=\"_blank\">published<\/a> a new version of a &#8220;public charge&#8221; policy,<strong> <\/strong>which was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2020\/02\/23\/immigration-public-charge-block-visa-green-card\" target=\"_blank\">expanded<\/a> during President Trump&#8217;s first term and then rolled back during the Biden years. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It overrides previous<strong> <\/strong>policies that limited which public benefits could disqualify immigrants from getting a green card, instead leaving decisions to the discretion of immigration officers on a case-by-case basis.<\/li>\n<li>It also clarifies that a person&#8217;s receipt of means-tested public benefits like Medicaid, CHIP and SNAP can be used to determine whether green card applicants would likely rely on government support.<\/li>\n<li>The new policy &#8220;restores broader discretion for DHS officers to evaluate all pertinent facts and aligns with long-standing policy that aliens in the United States should be self-reliant and government benefits should not incentivize immigration,&#8221; the rule states.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Between the lines:<\/strong> Public health and immigrant aid groups say the change could have a chilling effect. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A KFF-New York Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/immigrant-health\/kff-new-york-times-2025-survey-of-immigrants-health-and-health-care-experiences-during-the-second-trump-administration\/#xd_co_f=MjA5MWY5YWUtMTUwNS00ZmZlLWFkNDQtNzQwNzJmNTc4MjFm~\" target=\"_blank\">survey<\/a> found 11% of immigrant adults said they stopped participating in public benefit programs last year due to  immigration-related concerns, including about 4 in 10 (42%) who were likely undocumented and about 1 in 6 (17%) parents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What they&#8217;re saying: <\/strong>&#8220;This rule will exacerbate the pervasive fear and uncertainty among immigrant families,&#8221; Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He said the change could &#8220;lead to children \u2014 including those who are U.S. citizens \u2014 not receiving vital health services and supports they need and are eligible for.&#8221; <\/li>\n<li>DHS estimated that more than $13 billion could be saved annually through the total reduction in transfer payments from federal and state governments.<\/li>\n<li>It acknowledged the rule might result in reduced revenues for hospitals and other health providers participating in Medicaid, as well as for companies that make drugs or medical supplies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Context: <\/strong>The federal government has long had policies for permanent residency to determine whether a person is likely to become overly reliant on public benefits. Certain immigrant groups like refugees and asylum-seekers are exempt.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The first Trump administration added most Medicaid services to public charge determinations. The Biden administration reversed the change, largely limiting determinations to cash welfare benefits.<\/li>\n<li>But misconceptions about using health services lingered. About 25% of adults in families with both undocumented and legally present members avoided public benefits in 2022 because of green card concerns, per the Urban Institute.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What&#8217;s ahead:<\/strong> The new policy will apply to applications for green cards made on or after Sept. 18.<\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Trump administration formally laid the groundwork Monday to weigh immigrants&#8217; use of programs like Medicaid and CHIP in determining whether they should get permanent residency. Why it matters: The policy shift could discourage immigrant families from seeking health coverage if it could put their legal status at risk, public health groups warn. That could&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/I-K9FhdpZnJNqpP1xQjnNeXx7a4=\/0x0:1920x1080\/1366x768\/2025\/07\/14\/1752525645314.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}