It always seems that immigrant and refugees get the short end of the stick while in America, and there is no difference in the topic of health care. According to studies from multiple researchers, immigrants and refugees have limited access to the American healthcare system and the United States is not doing much to expand the opportunity to all. Many Americans believe that health care should be limited for immigrants because their involvement in the system would “steal” a large part of American health care dollars. In a very selfish way, Americans tend to feel that there is no point to give health care to one that does not belong to the country. I believe that immigrants need health insurance more than ever, due to the physical and mental …show more content…
When you combine language & cultural barriers, difference in the currency exchange rate, and job discrimination, it is hard to be at your top financially from the jump. According to the article, a higher income level has shown to be a strong predictor of access to quality health care, being there is a correlation between wealth and health (Marshall 2006). Individuals who are poor do not have as many opportunities of reaching economic stability, which may make them susceptible to crime and disease and a lack of education, employment, health care, and other basic needs. This means that the target group in the country that experiences countless health struggles (immigrants), are being denied health care. Unfortunately there are some immigrant who simply cannot afford health insurance, limiting their access to health …show more content…
Immigrants of legal status with really good health insurance, wait to go to the doctors unless they are in a serious condition. Families refuse to renew health insurance, even some who make payments, choose not to use their health plan. Depending on the customs of a particular family, some only go to the doctor when they are in a threatening health condition. Therefore, coming to America, they follow the same method. An important indicators of potential access to health care is the characteristics of the health care system (Aday, 1989). One characteristic mentioned during discussion is the ethnicity and language of the care takers. From experience, I know that immigrants tend to flock to other immigrants, especially if they are from the same homeland. Why go have medical checkups from a person who speaks a different language and risk having a misdiagnosis? Other documented immigrants avoid health-care facilities based on simply not trusting the ways of America. I grew up in south Yonkers, where there is a large amount of Ghanaian immigrants. Most of these immigrants are also attend an all-Ghanaian church with me. I have overheard conversations in which adults are saying they do not have a set stable insurance plan out of skepticism of it being a typical American scam to squeeze out all of their
Lee, S. &. (2009). Disparities in access to health care among non-citizens in the United States. Health Sociology Review , 18 (3), 307-317.
Gaining access to health care can be rather difficult for immigrants. There always seem to be some sort of obstacle in the way. For example, the cost of health care is skyrocketing. Immigrants whether they are legal aliens or illegal aliens are impacted the most by high health care costs. Each year the numbers for health care change but they never seem to get lower. Immigrants lack health care insurance due to the high cost of health care.
There are an estimated 11.1 million undocumented immigrants currently residing in the United States. The current healthcare model pertains to all U.S citizens, but what are the parameters and regulations regarding those who live here illegally? The purpose of this paper is to not only answer this question, but also to address concerns regarding the provision of health care benefits, rights, and our ethical responsibilities to this population.
Rachel was 40 years old when she moved from India to USA with her husband and four kids to fulfill their American dreams. She knew little english and had great difficulty fitting into the new environment in America. She was unable to work because she had to take care of her 10- month-old daughter. Her husband, who was a lawyer in India, was now working at Forman Mills for minimum wage. Recently, Rachel was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer. Her doctors said her tumor is almost seven years old and if she has routine check ups, her survival rate will be higher. Rachel did not have a health insurance and because of this, she postponed necessary care and avoided preventive care. Even though she gets basic treatments from Public Healthcare Center it is not enough for this chronic disease. Her family is helpless; if her husband took insurance coverage from workplace there would be little money left for their daily expenses after paying for insurance premiums. Her husband is now planning to take another job so he can take workplace insurance and save his wife.
According to Penner et al. (2013), there are various causes of healthcare disparities, such as socioeconomic status; this results to poor healthcare services for people with low socioeconomic status, as people with low pay find it difficult to leave their work to seek healthcare help, or to afford healthcare insurance (p.4). The second cause is language proficiency. The language barriers faced by the immigrant plays a role in the healthcare disparities among the racial or ethnic minority patients. Another cause is health literacy. The levels of the health literacy among the foreign born individuals can be influenced by their higher level of distrust of the healthcare providers and healthcare system than they have towards Caucasian people. This, in turn, leads them to seek healthcare information less often than their Caucasian counterparts, thus hindering the provision of quality services, as well as limiting the foreign patients’ ability to manage their health conditions effectively. The foreigners’ failure to easily accept the information provided to them by healthcare providers puts them at risk. Disentangling the role of health literacy in racial healthcare disparities from the effects of racial attitudes and beliefs is often hard (Penner et al,
Healthcare has now become one of the top social as well as economic problems facing America today. The rising cost of medical and health insurance impacts the livelihood of all Americans in one way or another. The inability to pay for medical care is no longer a problem just affecting the uninsured but now is becoming an increased problem for those who have insurance as well. Health care can now been seen as a current concern. One issue that we face today is the actual amount of healthcare that is affordable. Each year millions of people go without any source of reliable coverage.
With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, most Americans are concerned with their private insurance or the benefits with Medicaid or CHIP. However, there is another population that was left out of the new bill almost entirely: undocumented immigrants. There is an ongoing debate as to whether illegal immigrants should be eligible for public health care benefits presented in ACA. The two viewpoints are obvious: to give illegal immigrants health insurance and allow them to reap the benefits of a public healthcare system or to not. However, the issue is not so simple. There is a large group of people whose lives will forever be affected by the decision made on the issue.
Within the previous four years, the number of uninsured Americans has jumped to forty five million people. Beginning in the 1980’s, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has been trying to fix this problem of health insurance coverage for everyone with a basic reform. The AAFP’s plan imagined every American with insured coverage for necessary improved services that fall between the crucial health benefits and the surprising costs. (Sweeney) They expect by fostering prevention, and early prevention, with early diagnosis with treatment, the program would result in decreased health system costs and increased productivity through healthier lives. The way to achieve health care coverage for all is pretty simple. This country needs the United States congress to act out legislation assuring essential health care coverage for all.
Health insurance, too many American citizens, is not an option. However, some citizens find it unnecessary. Working in the health care field, I witness the effects of uninsured patients on medical offices. Too often, I see a “self-pay” patient receive care from their doctor and then fail to pay for it. Altogether, their refusal to pay leaves the office at a loss of money and calls for patients to pay extra in covering for the cost of the care the uninsured patient received. One office visit does not seem like too big of an expense, but multiple patients failing to pay for the care they receive adds up. Imagine the hospital bills that patients fail to pay; health services in a hospital are double, sometimes triple, in price at a hospital. It is unfair that paying patients are responsible for covering these unpaid services. Luckily, the Affordable Care Act was passed on March 23, 2010, otherwise known as Obamacare. Obamacare is necessary in America because it calls for all citizens to be health insured, no worrying about pre-existing conditions, and free benefits for men and women’s health.
According to the textbook, "Racial and Ethnic Groups" (14th edition) by Richard T. Schaefer described how Mexican Americans and other Hispanic groups are restricted from the healthcare system as opposed to other ethnicities. Despite the fact that, all people including illegal immigrants have access to medical treatment under emergency circumstances through federal laws; many Hispanics are cautious in seeking for medical treatment. Approximately, a third don't have health insurance or any other sort of coverage for example Medicaid. Thus, the uninsured aren't likely to have a source of medical care that's considered to be regular, so they anticipate a crisis prior to seeking for care. The healthcare crisis Mexican Americans and other Hispanic groups are facing is in result of the insufficient amount of Hispanic or fluent spanish health professionals.
According to the most recent numbers posted by the Census Bureau, an estimated 47 million Americans are uninsured. But let us examine these numbers closer. Of this 47 million, roughly 7 million are illegal immigrants, 9 million are on Medicade, 3.5 million are eligible for healthcare but do not pursue these available health services, and approximately 20 million families have incomes above the poverty level ($41,300 for a family of four) and can afford regular healthcare services with more coverage. Government tries to add all these factors together to make the numbers higher, in an attempt to gai...
Throughout the last three decades, increasing numbers of Asians have migrated to Canada from all over the Asian continent. Currently, 44% of the Vancouver area population is of Asian descent (Statistics Canada, 2001). Immigrants commonly occupy skilled job positions that the host nation is unable to fill with its own citizens, and thus they offer many advantages to their receiving country. In a nation with a declining birthrate, such as Canada, their contribution can play a major role on multiple levels. The immigrants themselves often enjoy a greater earning potential than they did in their native country, which can be advantageous for those who wish to send money back home to support their families.
With the United Nations listing health care as natural born right and the escalating cost of health care America has reached a debatable crisis. Even if you do have insurance it's a finical strain on most families.
Bentancourt et al. (2005) allows asserts that there are three distinctive reasons why cultural competency is so very important for the American healthcare system. American is composed of a very diverse population, which mean healthcare providers will continual be exposed to treating individuals from various backgrounds and from various cultures; their beliefs regarding their health or healthcare may range widely. When patients have a deficiency in the English language, proper healthcare delivery becomes increasingly more difficult as they will present symptoms in the syntax of their culture and their first language. Also, research shows the communication between the patient and their provider directly correlates to their satisfaction as well as their responsiveness or willingness to follow the health provider medical instructions; this ultimately affects the patient’s health outcome (Bentancourt et al., 2005). It’s fair to say that a successful health outcome is also contingent upon the interaction of the health provider and patient. Reports generated by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) – “Crossing the Quality Chasm and Unequal Treatment, confirms that cultural competence that focuses on the care of patient through
Over 59% of illegal immigrants are uninsured (Raark). This low rate of insurance comes despite a higher use of Medicaid than U.S. citizens. Around 24% of immigrants use Medicaid compared to only 14% of Americans using Medicaid (Raark). Immigrants pay less in taxes than they receive in government benefits. This places a burden on native taxpayers (Hanson).