Undocumented people living in the United States are denied their fundamental right to healthcare every day, with only a few states choosing to expand coverage to this community.
Undocumented immigrants are not permitted to enroll in federally funded healthcare programs such as Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Programs, and Medicare.
As a result, undocumented immigrants in California face significant barriers to healthcare. Not only are these barriers legal, they are economic and social, limiting people’s demands for timely and preventative treatment.
“We need a comprehensive healthcare bill that includes everyone,” he said. UCLA Dream Resource Centera program to train young immigrants and allies, and become a leader in immigration advocacy. “Healthcare is a human right and everyone deserves access to quality care.”
Health care should be recognized as a human right in the United States, not limited to communities, families, or individuals, based on the immigration situation.
Personal Responsibility and Labor Opportunity Reconciliation Act, 1996 Limited Undocumented immigrants have access to many public aid programs, including healthcare services.
“Immigrants, especially those who have not been documented, fear their safety and the safety of their families,” May Sudinarasset, professor and vice-chairman of Community Health Science at the UCLA School of Public Health, said in a statement received an email. “We know that undocumented (people) are much more likely to be uninsured compared to their documented peers, and we know that they are more likely to delay care when needed.”
According to KFF, 50% of undocumented adults It was Uninsured in 2023. Undocumented immigrants are made up of the largest group of Uninsured individual In the US, according to the National Immigration Forum.
There are many factors that prevent undocumented residents from seeking care, including language and cultural barriers. All of these variables unfortunately contribute to the deterioration of health of people who are not documented.
Hong said many undocumented immigrants are avoiding seeking medical assistance due to fear and uncertainty.
“It is difficult to clarify (their immigrant) status, as it threatens to face deportation not only for public organizations, but for themselves as well as for their families, as well as for their families,” Hong said.
According to Immigration Policy Research InstituteImmigrants are less likely to use and access healthcare services, even when controlling for the impact of race, ethnicity, income, insurance status, and health status.
It’s now California First state To remove undocumented immigration barriers, we will provide health insurance for all eligible undocumented people through Medi-Cal from 2024.
The move follows other efforts to expand Medi-cal coverage to undocumented people in California, including providing it to undocumented children in 2016.
That expansion has already been proven Promising effectsa report by the California Budget and Policy Center shows that after the expansion was implemented, there is a 10% increase in undocumented children reporting they are in excellent health.
California, along with Washington, D.C., is one of seven states, with a healthcare program that covers adults eligible for income, at least some, regardless of their immigration situation.
If California can take this step to ensure healthcare as a human right, other states can do so too. It is time to implement public health laws at the federal level that guarantee that right.
Asian Americans Advancing Southern California Justice Currently, it is the country’s largest legal and civil rights organization serving Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States, working with undocumented individuals in the AAPI community.
“Even in the best circumstances, access to healthcare can be difficult,” said Connie Lo, president of AJSocal, in an email statement. “But if the individual is not documented, the challenge gets worse.”
It is not a lack of access to health insurance or federally funded health coverage that limits access to healthcare for undocumented citizens. According to a literature review published in the International Journal of Health, Legal Uncertainty, Economic Constraints and Cultural Disparities. It’s getting worse Health inequality in this community.
“Dealing with these disparities requires administrative and policy advocacy, increased investment in multilingual and culturally competent health services, and a commitment to ensuring affordable access to quality healthcare for all individuals regardless of their immigration situation,” Lo said in a statement.
Therefore, expanding healthcare access in undocumented communities must adopt a sustainable, multi-faceted approach.
However, anti-immigration advocates and other opponents of such programs often criticize their costs.
California’s expansion to include undocumented individuals eligible for Medi-Cal is projected to cost California health and human services agencies $2.6 billion a year.
The program may be expensive, but it is warped by the costs of the federal government’s large deportation policy, with estimated costs reaching hundreds of millions of millions.
Rather than spending much on immigrant enforcement and deportation, these funds could be appropriately redirected to several state health care systems to support undocumented patients in need.
No matter where we were born, we all deserve medical care.
We should not allow pieces of paper to indicate whether our needs are met or forgotten.
