IMMIGRANTS’ HEALTH CARE

IMMIGRANTS’ HEALTH CARE

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IMMIGRANTS’ HEALTH CARE 2

M4A1: Literature Review

Immigrants’ Health Care

HSC305 – Critical Issues in Health Care Management

The topic I chose to pick from is how the special population of immigrants affect Health Care Organizations. I myself am an immigrant from Honduras and have several insights on the topic from both sides. This topic really hits home for me as I understand the liberal and conservative side of how to ensure the American people receive care and how Health Care Organizations have to deal with providing care to this special population. The following review will delve into a real life situation in health care involving two immigrants.

Jack Parsons is a third-year medical student and on this day he learned many valuable lessons. Maria Rosario is Jacks first patient and first real life situation as a future doctor the only problem was that Maria was 6 months old and her mother Juana only spoke Spanish. Dr. Fred Appleton was the attending physician on this day and he had a personal view on Jack’s situation. “I wish these people would try to learn English, just once” he told Jack. “Illegal aliens are a major drain on our resources, and there’s nothing I can do about it.” (Flores, 2005). Dr. Appleton’s view had changed over the years and like many of his colleagues he had become a doctor to help people. This division of pediatrics is extremely busy and he simply wanted to get through as many patients as possible as they were all stacking up. As the situation is being discussed Dr. George Cruz was finishing with a patient chart and he overheard the predicament that Jack was in, he offered to help if it was ok with Dr. Appleton. “Fred, I’d be happy to do the Spanish interpretation for this patient, if that would be helpful,” he said. “Thanks, George, that would be great,” Appleton replied. “Just keep things moving.” (Flores, 2005). Dr. Cruz quickly developed a report with Juana and he learned that she was an immigrant from El Salvador and she had walked from there seeking a better life for her daughter, she was fleeing violence as her whole family was murdered in front of her. After learning this Jack was astonished, Dr. Cruz proceeded by telling Juana that because her family suffered past persecution and she had a well-founded fear of persecution in El Salvador, she probably would qualify for political asylum. Cruz would help Juana get her daughter’s paperwork in order so she would qualify for Medicaid; in the meantime, she could get coverage under the state’s Children’s Medical Security Plan. (Flores, 2005). He also offered to help the family with the immigration paperwork. Jack still amazed at what Dr. Cruz did he told him that this was the reason he wanted to be a doctor and wanted to know how to get to this level. Once again Dr. Cruz went the extra mile to help Jack get to the place he wanted to be by giving him more guidance on how to help these type of people. Immigrant care is a very important issue in Health Care as resources need to be allocated for this population, finding this population help is essential as many have rights as human beings to get care.

The Affordable Care Act has impacted all of America including immigrants whether positively or negatively it remains as a major milestone for America Health Care. In spite of major coverage expansions under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), a large proportion of immigrants will continue to remain outside the scope of coverage. Because various provisions of the ACA seek to enhance access, advancing knowledge about immigrant access to health care is necessary. (Pandey, 2014). Many of the programs that our government offers for health care cannot be accessed by immigrants unless they meet very specific criteria and the fact is that if the patient is an illegal immigrant then there is almost no help to get care. Although this population often pays unclaimed taxes that go toward the Health Care system they are unable to utilize the resources. Politically both legal and illegal immigrants are not being represented in D.C. and the “do-nothing” approach will become a bigger issue in the future if it continues to be unaddressed. It is very difficult for our government to implement a perfect system, the ACA is already proven to be a difficult task on its own for the citizens it will be twice as difficult to make it work for every single resident in the country.

The bottom line is that in order to get care you must be here in this country legally. The ACA is only for U.S. Citizens, U.S. Nationals, and Lawfully present immigrants. Undocumented immigrants aren’t eligible to buy Marketplace health coverage, or for premium tax credits and other savings on Marketplace plans. Educational attainment, type of occupation, and earnings directly and indirectly influence immigrants’ access to health care resources. Overall, immigrants are less likely than U.S.-born populations to have graduated from high school and are more likely to work in service occupations and live in poverty, although important variations exist. (Derose, n.d.). The factors that render immigrants vulnerable to poor health care can be modified in part through policies that are widely relevant to disadvantaged populations, such as policies related to living wages, access to education, decent housing, and safe jobs. However, health policies targeted specifically to immigrants will also likely be needed. (Derose, n.d.).

Illegal immigration has already proven to be a hot topic in this year’s presidential race. Many of the attacks from the republican front runner Donald Trump are that illegal immigrants are free loading off the U.S. Health Care system among other systems. The numbers back up his claim according to the Wall Street Journal newspaper’s survey of the 25 counties with the highest concentrations of illegal immigrants, 20 of them provide inexpensive or free medical services, vaccinations, lab tests, surgeries and prescription drugs. The recipients are assured their immigration status isn’t a problem – and they won’t run into trouble with the INS– as long as they can demonstrate that they live in the county or jurisdiction. (Pianin, 2016).

We as Americans must pay attention this election and be educated on the pros and cons of the Health Care system on immigrants whether they are legal or illegal. Many people from this special population are essential members of our society and they have to be given care.

REFERENCES:

Flores, G. (2005). She Walked From El Salvador. Health Affairs, 24(2), 506-510. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.24.2.506

Pandey, S. K., Cantor, J. C., & Lloyd, K. (2014). Immigrant Health Care Access and the Affordable Care Act. Public Administration Review, 74(6), 749-759. doi:10.1111/puar.12280

HealthCare.gov. (n.d.). Health coverage for immigrants. Retrieved from https://www.healthcare.gov/immigrants/coverage/

Derose, K., Escarce, J. & Lurie, N. (n.d.). Immigrants And Health Care: Sources Of Vulnerability. Retrieved from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/26/5/1258.full

Pianin, E. (2016). The Fiscal Times. Free Health Care for Illegal Immigrants Now a Campaign Issue. Retrieved from http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/03/25/Free-Health-Care-Illegal-Immigrants-Now-Campaign-Issue

Radnofsky, L. (2016). The Wall Street Journal. Illegal Immigrants Get Public Health Care, Despite Federal Policy. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/illegal-immigrants-get-public-health-care-despite-federal-policy-1458850082