Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 4558 legislation which will "grandfather" SSI and Medicaid eligibility for those elderly and disabled legal immigrants who were receiving benefits on August 22. 1996 and are designated as "not qualified" under the 1996 welfare law. Currently. over 12.000 such immigrants nationwide. most of whom are elderly. are scheduled to lose their SSI benefits on September 30. 1998. In New York State alone. approximately 1.865 people will lose these benefits. Many in New York. and the rest of the country. will also lose their Medicaid. Many in this group are actually qualified immigrants eligible for continuing to receive SSI benefits. but are miscoded in the Social Security Administration (SSA) files and stand to lose their benefits because of administrative error. Eighty percent or more of those coded "not qualified" by SSA are in fact qualified immigrants whom the 1997 restoration was meant to benefit. Yet they will lose their benefits unless we. their elected officials. grandfather these individuals. Those who would lose assistance include the most vulnerable immigrants in need. the elderly and disabled. many homebound and frail. who are least able to comprehend or respond to efforts to reach out and protect them. For example. a 100 year old woman in New York receiving 24 hour home care is at risk of losing her benefits. I know none of us wants this type of tragedy to occur.
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immigrants