NPR | June 12, 2020
Katie Keith, a health law professor at Georgetown University, noted that the new rule could have another chilling effect. ”Even if no one actually does discriminate more because of the rule, you’ve created a fear,” Keith said. She pointed to research documenting how the ”public charge” rule — which penalizes people who are seeking to become citizens if they use public safety net programs such as nutrition and housing assistance — affected people and programs outside the scope of the rule itself. ”When they target these vulnerable populations, you see less enrollment in health insurance,” she said. ”You see folks scared to go to the doctor.”