Immigration and health policy subject of symposium

Questions about what happens when immigration and health policy collide in the current administration will be answered on Friday during an annual health law symposium at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

“The Intersection of Immigration and Health Policy” will feature renowned experts on the issue during an all-day symposium sponsored by the Hall Center for Law and Health.

Keynote speaker Wendy Parmet will open the symposium in an address of what happens when immigration policy and health law intersect. Specifically, she will discuss historical concerns and a recent regulatory change proposed by the Trump administration to the “public charge” rule. The proposal would penalize immigrants seeking legal status who have used public services such as food stamps or Medicaid.

“When immigration policy meets health law, health policy and public health suffer. The health care system covers fewer people while becoming costlier and less efficient,” Parmet said. “Public health is also jeopardized as punitive and futile efforts to keep diseases out by excluding or punishing newcomers replaces evidence-based public health solutions. More subtly, when immigration and health policy meet, we lose sight of why we have health policy in the first place.”

Parmet is the Matthews Distinguished University Professor of Law and director of the Center for Health Policy and Law at the Northeastern University School of Law. She is also a professor of public policy and urban affairs at the Northeastern University School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs.

Additional panels and speakers will address health care rights, health care systems, human rights and public health.

The symposium will take place in the Wynne Courtroom and atrium at Inlow Hall, 530 W. New York St., Indianapolis. Those interested in attending must register online and may receive up to 5.5 hours of continuing legal education credit.