Even though the new health care bill passed impacts Asian Pacific Americans around the country positively, there is still room for improvement, leading health reformers said.
The Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, a national organization dedicated to reforming health care for APAs, has been a lobbying group for health care in the U.S. for the past few years. Even though APIAHF officials are happy the new health care reform bill passed, they still think there is room to improve.
“While we are excited that this historic legislation has been signed into law, we must still address the barriers that remain in our communities,” Deeana Jang, policy director of APIAHF, said. “With more than three-in-five of Asian Americans being foreign born, the current five-year waiting period imposed on tax-paying, legal immigrants who are seeking Medicaid coverage has a considerable impact on access to care.”
Giving health care to legal immigrants without an imposed waiting period is one of the biggest issues APIAHF is focusing on. But with the introduction to this new stage in health care, Jang said you have to take what you can get a little bit at a time.
The 2010 Healthcare Reform Bill signed into law will bring $11 billion in funding to community health centers from 2011 to 2015, APIAHF said. The new health care bill will also give grants for training health care professionals on culturally appropriate care and services.
“As a student, health care is something that affects us also,” John Young, sophomore family science major, said. “With the bill passed we don’t not have to worry as much about getting health care right after we graduate.”
Before the healthcare bill, insurance companies would drop students from their parents’ plans after graduation. However, now students are allowed to stick with their parents plan until the age of 26.
Not only will the new bill help graduating students keep health care, but it will also increase funding and scholarships for disadvantaged students, providing special consideration to institutions with a track record of training individuals from minority communities, according to APIAHF.
“This couldn’t have come at a better time,” Christina Cho, junior public and community health major, said. “Now we finally have a bill that can start to fix some of the problems my parents had to deal with when obtaining health care after coming to this country.”
Although Cho was born in the United States, her parents migrated from China in the early 80s. Cho said it was nearly impossible for them to find health care even though they were legal immigrants.
The health care bill passed provides low and middle income families with tax credits to help when purchasing health coverage, Cho said.
“This new plan is not only helping the Asian American community now but its starting the foundation for helping many more in the future,” Cho said.
