U.S. Health Care System Fails to Support Immigrants
The language barrier for recent immigrants to the United States is taking a toll on how they receive access to and understand their health care options, according to a recent report by Kaiser. This further exemplifies the holes in the United States’ health care system, and raises huge concerns over those who are eligible and paying for health care yet are not receiving what they deserve. What is happening here and how can it be fixed?
Health care and immigration
I can only imagine how frustrating it is to be a newcomer to this country and want to get health care coverage, but not be able to find a single person to help you understand your options. For many who call the help lines for a plan like Medicaid, you may find that you can get instructions in Spanish, but what about the other hundreds of languages that immigrants speak? And what about other options for helping recent immigrants understand their health care options?
According to Liany Arroyo, director of The Institute for Hispanic Health at the National Council of La Raza, the funding is just not there. Programs for immigrants who have questions about the health care system are supposedly difficult to establish and maintain, and the money for them just doesn’t exist. Arroyo says “Funding is limited all around. Given the state of the economy, a lot of our cities and states are cutting back, so it becomes less popular to create these programs.”
So the money isn’t there, but is there anything to be done? Certainly. If you are a health professional in cities with high immigration rates, and you happen to be bilingual, then think about how you can be proactive in your community. Post fliers, Craigslist ads, however you think people might be seeking information, and post them in the language you speak.
Offer pro-bono consulting services to immigrants trying to muddle through the health care system. It might cost you time, but the benefits of helping someone truly in need are insurmountable. Put yourself in their shoes and think about how much you would appreciate someone doing the same. On the other hand, if you’re an immigrant seeking low income health insurance, then you can learn about low-income health insurance options here.
photo credit: irina slutsky
Tags: border, health care, health coverage, health insurance, immigrants, immigration, politics
August 31st, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Are we discussing LEGAL immigration or ILLEGAL immigration? Two totally different issues.
If a individual is illegal, they should be removed from our country and transported to their own country for treatment.
We are not responsible as a nation, to provide free health care to the world. Especially those who have entered illegally, costing our country billions possibly trillions of dollars in health care, education, security, job displacement and the list goes on…
We do have a responsibility to those who are legal citizens of the US. Especially the ones who have fought and died for our country, and our freedom, in providing health and emotional care, as well as rehabilitative support in and out of the military to both themselves and their families.
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:44 am
Health coverage for an individual is relatively easy to plan because there is only one person to consider. For this person, there are two major categories of health insurance available: group and individual. Most people try to save money by buying a group policy….
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:45 am
Health coverage for an individual is relatively easy to plan because there is only one person to consider. For this person, there are two major categories of health insurance available: group and individual. Most people try to save money by buying a group policy.
November 27th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Why don’t we provide health insurance to a whole world and translate in every language that exists. Who will pay for it? Taxpayers, who else. We already almost bankrupt country because of all those entitlement programs. All immigrants that come here should learn English then they can understand all the options and if they are illegal they should not get any health insurance in a first place. This is crazy. And sure enough they are quoting La Raza. Any time I go to a doctor I am getting all those brochure in 3 or 4 languages. Who is paying for it? So, now we need even more, maybe we will have translators in every doctor office, for every language that exists, paying by taxpayers.
January 10th, 2010 at 2:24 am
I believe that excluding people from the health care exchange is very impractical and most importantly harmful to all of us. It’s not about the policy, but the politics. We really need more people paying into the exchange, to make reform work for almost everyone. The process of screening out immigrants will harm our citizens too. Health care reform cannot and will not fix the immigration system. The fact is that America’s families include immigrants. Excluding them is going to harm everyone.