Alexandra Warren

The Project

Alexandra addresses barriers to healthcare that low-income immigrants in Massachusetts face by providing holistic direct legal representation, policy advocacy, and community outreach.  

The Public Charge rule identifies people applying for Green Cards and visas from within the United States who may rely on government benefits as their main source of support. Through this rule, non-U.S. citizens could have their admission to the United States denied or have their applications for lawful permanent residency refused. The Public Charge rule does not apply to all immigrants, however, and many immigration statuses are exempt, like asylum and U Visa cases.  

There are currently about 264,000 non-U.S. citizen enrollees in MassHealth, Massachusetts’ Medicaid program. It is estimated that 92,400 immigrants will disenroll from their current programs and another 60,000 are likely to forego enrolling in MassHealth due to the perceived threat of the Public Charge rule. While there are attorneys working in the fields of immigration and healthcare who are addressing these barriers to access, there remains a gap in expertise at the intersection of immigration and healthcare. 

Fellowship Plans

During her Fellowship, Alexandra will provide direct legal representation to assist clients as they navigate the complicated MassHealth administrative process, appeal denials of coverage, and ensure they are enrolled in the program with the highest level of coverage for which they are eligible. She will advocate for state policies that preserve and expand immigrant healthcare access, and through community outreach, she will build partnerships with hospitals and community health centers to establish “on-site” office hours. 

Media