Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

I'm Joshua Sharfstein, Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement,

and a former health commissioner here in Baltimore.

Our goal is to bring evidence and experience to illuminate critical public health issues.

If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health question at jhh.edu.

That's public health question at jh.u.edu for future podcast episodes.

Hey, listeners, I'm Lindsay Smith-Rogers, producer of Public Health on Call.

Today, the topic is access to health care, with a focus on a population heavily affected

by COVID, but often ignored by policymakers, undocumented individuals.

Dr. Josh Sharfstein speaks to Lovia Kenyones, senior director of

health policy at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Joining them is Mervin Dino,

who runs a safety net health care program at Advocate Aurora Health in Chicago. Recently, both were

involved in successful advocacy efforts to expand access to health care

to undocumented immigrants in Illinois who are age 42 and above.

Let's listen.

Mervindino, Luvia Quignones, thank you so much for joining me on public health on call.

Over the last decade or so, the United States has made a lot of progress in reducing the number

of people without health insurance. But there are certain groups that have been left behind,

and among them are undocumented individuals, as well as young people who are part of the DACA program.

What are the consequences of their inability at times to access health insurance?

Maybe I'll start with you, Mervin, Dino.

Yeah, thank you, Josh.

...