Is healthcare equally accessible between immigrants and U.S.-born citizens?
The outlook on equal accessibility between immigrants and U.S. born citizens is complex. There are many factors that contribute to the accessibility of healthcare for immigrants. For instance, some immigrants have a green card, but others hold off on getting a green card for government reasons.
Overall, United States healthcare is much more hard to attain compared to other countries where healthcare is cheap and often free.
What is the difference between immigrants’ access to healthcare compared to U.S.-born citizens?
Shouldn’t every individual in the United States have equal access to healthcare services? Most people say yes, but that is unfortunately not the case. Due to high rates of immigrants being uninsured, it is harder for them to overcome barriers in the healthcare system, such as lack of access to necessary doctor office visits. According to a study published in 2001 by Leighton Ku and Sheetal Matani, “Low-income immigrant adults are twice as likely as low-income, native-born citizen adults to report that they have no regular source of health care.” Another statistic shows the difference in healthcare compared to born U.S citizens: “low-income immigrant children are four times more likely to lack a usual source of care as low-income children with native-born citizen parents.”
Immigrants have an impact on the healthcare system just like every other citizen, so giving them equal access to services will allow there to be more equality and fairness in healthcare services.
Giving into creating healthcare for all could ultimately save all Americans a significant amount of money, according to The Immigrant Learning Center.
Many immigrants are trying their best to earn an income. They are trying to pay for their healthcare costs which are often higher than the citizens who have good healthcare insurance. It does not help that many immigrants also have language barriers in addition to financial crises.
Unfortunately, many immigrants face stigmas because of their race and financial issues, causing them more difficulty in accessing equal healthcare . Balance Now writer Maritza Guizar speaks about mental health in the Latinx community and how individuals suffer from getting healthcare access, specifically mental health services. She mentions factors such as “financial issues, racism, and the cultural stigma,” which in the long run affect many individuals from a variety of backgrounds from accessing necessary health services.
Similarly, writer Daffen Perez from Balance Now speaks about disparities in accessing mental health services. Although she does not directly touch upon immigrants’ healthcare, she integrates a quote from Dr. Zamani about how racism and discrimination pull apart people from multiple ethnic backgrounds, including immigrants. This makes it hard for minorities to advocate and believe they have just as much value as anyone else to receive the healthcare services they need.
What conclusions can be made about future immigration healthcare?
Immigrants’ healthcare needs to be just as accessible as it is for United States-born citizens. It should go beyond giving immigrants the minimum healthcare services, such as only emergency visits.
According to the Key Facts on Health Coverage of Immigrants, undocumented and documented immigrants have the highest percentage of being uninsured. Under 10% of both U.S. citizens and naturalized citizens are uninsured within the healthcare system.
In an interview, Boston Immigration Lawyer Giselle M. Rodriguez discusses the disparities of immigration healthcare access. She speaks about the unfortunate experiences that many immigrants face when working in the US. When healthcare insurance does not cover their basic needs, they are expected to pay out of pocket. She mentions that for some immigrants, the healthcare costs when they go to the emergency room will have to come out of pocket. As a lawyer, she suggests that they should get some form of private insurance to be safe.
She states, “When it comes to other legal immigrants like green card holders, they generally qualify for Masshealth, but the issue is that they are lucky they are in Massachusetts.” She says that Masshealth is decent compared to what other states have to offer.
She then goes on to state, “In other countries, like Germany, healthcare is completely free for everyone and that is something that should happen within the United States because it is a fundamental need.”
There are immigrants that are undocumented and qualify for the basics of getting MassHealth but are afraid to request it, thinking that it will interfere with them getting a green card in the future. She then says, “There is so much fear, and this is due to the fact that the government plays a role. There should be more resources for newcomers who are coming to the U.S.”
The Affordable Care Act is more on the federal level, whereas the states have their own level of care. The federal level often covers more, but many undocumented immigrants cannot access care on the federal level. There are discrepancies between the state and federal level, and there needs to be more clarity.
When it comes to getting private or public insurance, Rodriguez recommends researching the friendliness of each state and their coverage to immigrants so that they have a good understanding before moving to the state. Rodriguez says, “For instance, the law of Senate Bill 1718 is so anti-immigrant in Florida.” She mentions that every state is different, and being educated on the state’s immigration laws is very important!
Overall, there needs to be more justice and stability in the healthcare system for immigrants, especially those of minority backgrounds!
