Judge Blocks Health Insurance Mandate

A federal judge in Oregon blocked President Trump’s order to deny visas to immigrants without health insurance.

On October 4, 2019, President Trump issued Presidential Proclamation No. 9945, “Presidential Proclamation of the Suspension of Entry of Immigrants Who Will Financially Burden the United States Healthcare System.” Under the Proclamation, immigrants would be considered financial burdens to the US health care system and denied a visa unless they could show they would be covered by approved health insurance within 30 days of entry into the US or could otherwise cover their medical costs. The move by the Trump Administration was swiftly met with a court challenge, John Doe #1 v. Donald Trump.

The Proclamation estimated that uncompensated health care costs more than $35 billion per year. However, the Proclamation did not provide any data or estimates for how much of the $35 billion stems from uninsured legal immigrants and in John Doe #1 v. Donald Trump, expert evidence was provided to contradict the claim.

Dr. Leighton Ku is a Professor of Health Policy and Management and Director of the Center for Health Policy Research at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University in Washington, DC., and has more than 25 years of experience as a health policy researcher. According to Dr. Leighton Ku, recent uninsured immigrants use less than one-tenth of one percent of total American medical resources.

On November 26, 2019, the judge in John Doe #1 v. Donald Trump found that the Plaintiffs met their burden to demonstrate a need for preliminary injunctive relief and ordered that the Defendants be enjoined from implementing or enforcing the Proclamation. The injunction can be found here.

We will continue to monitor this case and provide updates as they occur.