Tighter Medicaid rules for babies of illegal immigrants

WASHINGTON -- Under a new federal policy, children born in the United States to illegal immigrants with low incomes will no longer be automatically entitled to health insurance through Medicaid, Bush administration officials said Thursday. Doctors and hospitals said the policy change would make it more difficult for such infants, who are U.S. citizens, to obtain health care needed in the first year of life. Illegal immigrants are generally barred from Medicaid, but can get coverage for treatment of emergency medical conditions, including labor and delivery. In the past, once a woman received emergency care under Medicaid for the birth of a baby, the child was deemed eligible for coverage as well, and states had to cover them for one year from the date of birth.

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