Healthcare Access for Undocumented Immigrants in the U.S.
Health Insurance & Restrictions
In the last couple of years, the cost of healthcare has risen to the point where it has become difficult for people to afford. We live in a society where poverty is very common, especially among undocumented families. The United States often receives backlash for not having Universal healthcare. Universal healthcare is a healthcare system that guarantees healthcare for all. Due to this issue, there are many individuals who are left without health insurance.
Undocumented immigrants face several issues when it comes to accessing health coverage. They do not have the same resources that documented immigrants and nonimmigrants have. It is important to remember that there is a substantial difference between documented and undocumented immigrants. Documented individuals are in the United States legally, which allows them to have almost equal benefits as natural-born citizens.
For those who cannot afford health insurance, government programs have been created in efforts to help the public afford insurance. The only issue is that undocumented individuals do not qualify to receive government aid. According to the government webpage for health coverage, a person must be a citizen or a resident of state in order for them to qualify for government aid. This automatically disqualifies these individuals from being able to apply for Medicare or Medicaid. Apart from this, the Affordable Care Act also mentions that undocumented immigrants are not allowed to buy health insurance through their marketplaces.
Limited Options
The only available options that undocumented individuals have to access health coverage is either through their employer or purchasing coverage out-of-pocket. The best option for undocumented immigrants would be to get health insurance through their employers (Terriquez and Joseph 2016). However, this does not guarantee that they are going to get good health insurance. There are some employers who offer the very minimum because they do not want to spend a lot of money for good insurance.
Realistically, with the amount that it costs to pay for coverage out-of-pocket, undocumented immigrants do not have the ability to afford it. Most of these individuals work minimum wage jobs that barely cover basic costs of living. Typically, they will look for jobs where they do not require a high education or proof of citizen ship. These jobs might include fast food restaurants, field workers, housekeeping, etc.
Negative Outcomes
Discrimination
In today’s society it is common to see that minorities are discriminated through the help of media. Unfortunately, these people are also being discriminated when trying to seek medical attention. Apart from not being able to access government aid, some states have even gone as far as passing laws to try and prevent undocumented families from receiving medical care. For example, California once passed Proposition 187, which forced medical staff to report undocumented patients to immigration services. During the time that California followed that law, several individuals were deported (Ziv and Bernard 1995).
Some of these undocumented individuals who are lucky enough to be insured have reported that they received discrimination when seeking medical treatment. For example, since English is not their first language, they have trouble communicating with staff (Yu, Huang, and Kogan 2008). This resulted in staff being rude and unwilling to assist them.
Health Issues
As a result of not being able to afford health insurance, people can develop serious health issues. Not only are we talking about adult undocumented immigrants, but their children as well. One of the biggest health issues as a result of no insurance is obesity. Obesity is common among immigrant children because parents are not able to take their children to doctor visits since they cannot pay for them. Apart from that, since some undocumented immigrants live in poverty, they tend to buy cheap fast food often. Socioeconomic status plays a significant role in the rates of obesity in the United States (Uche et. al, 2020). However, this is only one of the various issues that undocumented immigrants might encounter.
Not only do these families develop physical health issues, but they can develop mental health issues as well. For the families who have been separated by immigration services, it can be very traumatic. Individuals, mainly children, can also develop depression and separation anxiety. For the children who had to witness their parents being deported, they struggle to continue forward alone. All they have ever known is a life with their parents and then suddenly they are taken away. This is an issue that has happened a lot in present day with all of the kids in ICE detention centers.
Potential Solutions
Together, people can make a difference in order to make changes for undocumented immigrants. There are already organizations that exist to provide affordable services for them, however we should not stop there. Another thing that can be done is the creation of petitions to get the attention of council members. These efforts can go a long way into creating laws and helping families get the basic needs that they deserve. We must remember that undocumented people are essential to our country because they work hard for the benefit of others.
References
Terriquez, Veronica, and Tiffany D. Joseph. “Ethnoracial Inequality and Insurance Coverage among Latino Young Adults.” Social Science & Medicine, vol. 168, 2016, pp. 150–158., doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.08.039.
Uche, Uloma Igara, Suzuki, Sumihiro, Fulda, Kimberly G, & Zhou, Zhengyang, 2020,. Environment-wide association study on childhood obesity in the U.S. Environmental Research, 191, 110109–110109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110109
Yu, Stella M., et al. “State-Level Health Care Access and Use Among Children in US Immigrant Families.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 98, no. 11, 2008, pp. 1996–2003., doi:10.2105/ajph.2007.117911.
Ziv, Tal Ann, and Bernard Lo. “Denial of Care to Illegal Immigrants — Proposition 187 in California.” New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 332, no. 16, 1995, pp. 1095–1098., doi:10.1056/nejm199504203321612.
