Thread: Hispanics' Health Care Disparities Worsen

Hispanics' Health Care Disparities Worsen
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jan 9, 6:00 PM ET



WASHINGTON - Hispanics are falling further behind whites in getting quality medical care, while other minority groups are closing the gap, federal officials said Monday.


The areas where Hispanics were slipping include treatment for diabetes, mental illness and tuberculosis. Officials also found growing gaps for Hispanics in getting regular dental visits for their children and speedy care for injury or illness.

Officials say they don't know why disparities in health care are growing for Hispanics but narrowing for blacks, Asians and American Indians.

"The fact that we know it exists prompts a lot of local communities to say, 'What's going on here?' and to figure out also why it matters," said Carolyn Clancy, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Clancy said people who have less access to care are more likely to be admitted to a hospital for a condition that could have been avoided, "costing all of us a lot more money."The government, using data mostly from 2002 and 2003, measured 40 types of disparities in the quality of health care between whites and minorities. Among blacks, 58 percent of those disparities were becoming smaller and 42 percent were becoming larger.

In contrast, among the disparities between whites and Hispanics, 41 percent were becoming smaller, while 59 percent were growing.

The government also measured access to health care. In all categories, disparities narrowed for blacks, Asians and American Indians. But the gap worsened for Hispanics in five out of six categories, including access to health insurance.

Dr. Elena Rios, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Association, said two out of five Hispanics don't have insurance, and that group contains both legal and illegal immigrants.
"Whole communities and families that come from Latin America, where they've had health care as a right, don't know you have to apply for insurance," she said.

Clancy cited a language barrier as one potential contributor to health care disparities. The report showed that the quality of patient-provider communication as reported by patients declined among Hispanic adults (87 percent to 84 percent), even as it improved among white adults (93 percent to 94 percent).

Clancy said she did not know how much illegal immigration contributed to the growing gap. The data does not take the legal status of a patient into account."All of our data sources need a lot better information on subgroups of the Latino population, because we're lumping in obviously fairly different groups â€â€

The areas where Hispanics were slipping include treatment for diabetes, mental illness and tuberculosis

which is why we need a border that is protected

"Whole communities and families that come from Latin America, where they've had health care as a right, don't know you have to apply for insurance," she said.

If the health care in their countries are a right, then maybe they should go back and be treated, instead of bringing their communicable diseases here and having us pay for it.

I'm sorry, I have to say this.

There is an extremely disturbing tendency in movements like this to degenerate into hate groups.

You cannot claim to be a patriotic American, and CERTAINLY NOT a Christian, and hate people because they are foreign-born and work here illegally, or because they do not speak english. You ABSOLUTELY cannot claim to be a Christian and lack compassion for people who are live and work here and become ill with serious mental or physical illnesses.

Wake up. Illegal immigration is a means by which the economy obtains nearly free labor to increase profits for the greedy. People who come here to work are not coming to rape, pillage and murder. Most are coming to excape grinding poverty. The misuse of illegal immigrants is connected to the the misuse of the American worker. YOU ARE NOT ENEMIES, FOR GOD'S SAKE! You have common interests, if only you weren't so blinded you would see them.

I undersand there are many of you are have experienced crimes at the hands of illegal immigrants. I am truly sorry for your grief and losses. However, I am getting a strong impression that many people are more outraged at the immigration status of the suspect than the actual crime.

Perhaps you are using the immigration issue to give free vent to racially-motivated hatred. I cannot, will NEVER and support you on this!

Certainly you have valid concerns about illegal immigration. I would hope that one of those concerns would be the poverty and working conditions that illegal immigrants endure. If you do NOT have concerns about illegal immigrants as persons, as God's children with a precious soul (for those of you who claim to be believers), then your concerns HAVE NO LEGITIMACY. They are simply an excuse for hate.

Place this thread back out on the boards. This lady needs to understand some things about our movement. Let our activists educate her.

W

I would normally welcome any new member but in your case I'll make an exception.

You cannot claim to be a patriotic American, and CERTAINLY NOT a Christian, and hate people because they are foreign-born and work here illegally, or because they do not speak english. You ABSOLUTELY cannot claim to be a Christian and lack compassion for people who are live and work here and become ill with serious mental or physical illnesses.

I cannot claim to be a patriotic American? You do not even comprehend the meaning of the word patriotism. For your enlightment:

From WorldNet:

The noun patriotism has one meaning:

Meaning #1: love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it
Synonym: nationalism

I have never said I hated ANYBODY. A close family member is actually a naturalized citizen, English is not her first language.

I cannot be a Christian because I'm a patriot who loves and will defend my country? I can assure you that I am indeed a Christian and a true Patriot.

Illegal immigration is a means by which the economy obtains nearly free labor to increase profits for the greedy.

With this I will wholeheartedly agree.

People who come here to work are not coming to rape, pillage and murder.

Perhaps you should contact the eight women in Greensboro, Winston Salem and High Point, NC, who were raped by an illegal immigrant and share your wisdom with them.

The misuse of illegal immigrants is connected to the the misuse of the American worker.

I don't know what you're trying to say here. I do not now and have never misused any human being.

YOU ARE NOT ENEMIES, FOR GOD'S SAKE!

As far as I know, I am no man's enemy. No man is my enemy.

You have common interests, if only you weren't so blinded you would see them.

Since I am a law abiding citizen (never even 1 traffic ticket) and people in this country illegally are by fact lawbreakers, I find I have no common ground with them.

However, I am getting a strong impression that many people are more outraged at the immigration status of the suspect than the actual crime.

Of course we are outraged by crimes committed by illegal immigrants. But this is an illegal immigration organization you know. It is fair to say, I am equally enraged by crime and illegal immigration. If there were no illegal immigrants in the US, there would be fewer crimes. Do you agree?

Perhaps you are using the immigration issue to give free vent to racially-motivated hatred.

I am not a racist! This is an illegal immigration organization. Did you wonder in by mistake?

I cannot, will NEVER and support you on this!

Thank the good Lord!

I would hope that one of those concerns would be the poverty and working conditions that illegal immigrants endure.

One of my main concerns is that the US will end up in the same condition as the country from which illegals have fled. Would you enjoy living in a third world country. I certainly would not!

If you do NOT have concerns about illegal immigrants as persons, as God's children with a precious soul (for those of you who claim to be believers), then your concerns HAVE NO LEGITIMACY.

These people were "God's precious souls" back at home weren't they? They can certainly be again.

They are simply an excuse for hate.

You really should get off this hate kick before I do start hating.

Let me give you two different examples of the way illegal immigrants are abusing our health care system and taking advantage of "goodhearted" taxpayers. First instance, during time spent with a relative in the hospital, I personally witnessed time and time again the emergency waiting room being filled by people of "questionable" status. None that I saw were in any sort of life-threatening condition. They were there because it was FREE. When I've even had out-patient procedures done, I have to present proof of insurance the day PRIOR to the procedure at which time they happily tell me the amount my insurance won't cover and ask for a check BEFORE I can be seen. DOES THIS SOUND RIGHT TO YOU?

The other is a Mexican woman with THREE children under the age of 5 years who had been in the US illegally less than a week and was seeking help for her and the children. She had enough money to be smuggled into the US but did not have money to take care of her family. The money she paid the smuggler would have provided for them for months, possibly years, in Mexico.

Please feel free to subsidize the entire third world if you're so inclined. It is now all I can do to provide for my own family. I feel no obligation whatsoever to continue to provide ANYTHING for those in the US illegally.

I believe you would feel more comfortable on one of those illegal immigrant advocacy boards.

BYE!

Sherie, Sherie, Sherie:

Hi, my name is Judy. I don't know you and you don't know me. So lets get acquainted.

First, no one on this board involved in ALIPAC hates anyone. We are not about hate. We are about having our laws enforced to control immigration to protect the United States, our sovereignty, our nation, our people, our fellow citizens.

Second, there is not a "hate" bone in my body except for some corrupt globalist politicians trying to sell out our nation; reduce our entire population to employed poverty at population levels this nation can not sustain successfully.

Third, I am a Christain and do my best to live it and breathe it every day. I've never cheated anyone, I've never taken something that didn't belong to me, I've never moved into someone's house, I've never mooched, I've never free-loaded, I've never advanced myself at the expense of another.

Fourth, I grew up poor on a farm with no plumbing, no running water, no sewer. We had an outhouse and my grandpa hauled water out to us in stainless steel milk cans. We played, we had two cows, lots of chickens, a telephone and an old car. My father worked construction and travelled a 5 state area and would be gone for months at a time.

Fifth, not once during those early years when times were very hard by today's standards did we invade another person's home; show up at the hospital for free medical care; sign up for "benefits"; form "advocacy" groups to go try and get us some money from the government; invade another country; undercut their labor market; all to seek our "better life".

Sixth, I know all about being poor and wanting a better life. There were no jobs in my little country town. Men went off to work leaving wives and kids at home to muster as best they could for months at a time or they had even less than we did.

Seventh, if you think for a minute that this story ended with my family, then you need to walk outside your La La Land and face the reality of America. America has been a rich nation because of the attitude of Americans. America is becoming a less than rich nation and is on its way to a third world economy because of a new attitude that has infested our nation. It is an attitude resembling yours. It is silliness of wanting someone else to pay for your religious belief or your charity concept. You want American Families in poverty so you can cry "I'm a christian and helped someone"? That is not Christianity dear. If you want to give up your life, your income, your jobs, your house, your medical benefits, your everything for an illegal immigrant family then that is a choice you can make. But do not come to other Americans and ask us to give up ours so you don't have to and can still look good in your church's foreign mission effort.

Eigth, the medical condition of illegal immigrants is not my problem. They need to return home and march to their own hospitals and demand treatment. The medical condition of Americans is my concern. And every time an illegal immigrant gets medical care at someone else's expense, then that person was an American. I am an American without health insurance. Do you hear me whining? Do you hear me knocking on your door for "advocacy"? Do you see me organizing "groups" to go whine to our government to get me free medical services? There are almost 40,000,000 Americans who can not afford health insurance because the insurance is too expenive or they earn too little income. The medical condition of Americans is my concern, Sherie. Until every American Citizen has either enough money to pay for all the medical services they need or enough money to afford health insurance, I could care less about the "dental" needs of the children of illegal aliens. Their parents needs to worry about that. The government of the nation in which they are citizens needs to worry about that. Americans have more Americans to worry about than we can handle right now, so illegal aliens are not our concern, medically or in any other capacity, because we want them and their medical conditions out of the country immediately.

Ninth, it takes a peculiar form of Christianity to come onto a forum of people you do not know and judge them and accuse them of "hate". It reminds me of a little verse that goes like this. "Judge not lest ye be Judged". As a "christian", I'm sure you've heard that one. You should try it some time.

Tenth, the United States because of the American People has a role and a mission to survive successfully and on a sovereign peaceful basis with its neighbors and all nations of the world. Nothing was given to the American People. The road from 1776 to today has been a long, hard road. Those of us whose families were here in 1776 know that struggle; know those hardships; know those disappointments; know death; know darkness; and how we managed it all. Americans do not mooch. Americans do not whine. Americans have no respect for anyone who does. Such people weaken our nation; destroy the very spirit that brought the American People from the ravages of the Revolutionary War and the Civil War and two World Wars to this moment. America is not and has never been a nation of immigrants. America has always been a nation of settlers. But America is now fully settled and many believe over-settled. We do not need any more settlers because there is nothing more to settle. We do not need immigrants for any purpose. Would we like to have a few immgirants? Until now, we have. But frankly, many of us are beginning to wonder even about that because we are over-settled, over-populated, over-budget, and overly tired of all this whining and mooching.

Now that you know me alittle better, why don't you share alittle bit about yourself with the forum besides your false accusations of hate and christian charity flag waving.

You know St. Pete counts heads and when you've helped one at the expense of another, that's a net zero in his book...and mine too.

It's "Christians" like Sherie who give Chrisianity a bad name. She pops up on our boards and immediately starts LAMBASTING us, a group of people she knows NOTHING ABOUT, JUDGING US according to HER standards, generally being a do-gooder HYPOCRITE. I would like to hear what Sherie would have to say when HER JOB was taken by an ILLEGAL. Or when her CHILD was raped by one. OR MURDERED BY ONE. Sherie needs to get her nose out of her religious tracts and read some statistics about what these illegals are doing to our country.

I am one of those Americans who is STRUGGLING to pay for my health care. My health care INSURANCE costs 2/3 of my INCOME. WHY am I not entitled to what LAWBREAKERS are getting from MY tax money?? Why is JUDY not entitled to that? I tell you why, Sherie. We have worked hard all of our lives and SAVED A LITTLE MONEY so WE are penalized while THEY are rewarded.

FRANKLY, I don't CARE about their "working conditions". IF they had stayed at home where they belonged, they wouldn't have to worry about the WORKING CONDITIONS IN AMERICA. Are you worried about the working conditions of AMERICANS???

I think it might be a good idea for you to take your missionary work TO MEXICO and see if you can make a difference THERE. Maybe then they would stay there and you could change THEIR WORLD.

You ABSOLUTELY cannot claim to be a Christian and lack compassion for people who are live and work here and become ill with serious mental or physical illnesses

.

WHERE is YOUR COMPASSION for your AMERICAN brothers and sisters??
How could you POSSIBLY think that WE should pay for the care of these people who BROKE OUR LAWS by coming here while AMERICANS go without CARE? WHAT SKEWED LOGIC.

Perhaps you are using the immigration issue to give free vent to racially-motivated hatred.

AND, this argument rears its ugly head yet again. This is the argument you people use when you HAVE NO LOGICAL ARGUMENT. PLAY THE RACE CARD. What a CONVENIENT ACCUSATION. WHERE do you see ANY OF US RAILING against LEGAL HISPANICS?? BLACKS?? ANY OTHER RACE??? YOU DON'T. You won't FIND ONE, NOT ONE, criticism on these boards about any LEGAL, hardworking PERSON. The RACE CARD will not FLY here.

When you, Sherie, expend the same amount of energy and effort trying to help your FELLOW AMERICANS as you do for people who have total disregard for the rule of law, come back and make your argument. You are wasting your time and ours when you come here and try to play GOD.
It is not for YOU to JUDGE US. Hiding behind religion to condemn honest, hard-working, PATRIOTIC, and yes, CHRISTIAN AMERICANS is about as hypocritical as you could get.

There is NO PLACE AT ALIPAC FOR HYPOCRITES. When you point a finger at someone else, remember that three are pointed right back at yourself.

Wake up. Illegal immigration is a means by which the economy obtains nearly free labor to increase profits for the greedy. People who come here to work are not coming to rape, pillage and murder. Most are coming to excape grinding poverty. The misuse of illegal immigrants is connected to the the misuse of the American worker. YOU ARE NOT ENEMIES, FOR GOD'S SAKE! You have common interests, if only you weren't so blinded you would see them

do you realize what you are saying here? Illegal immigration provides nearly free labor? Would you want to be enslaved? Would you hold anyone else in bondage? Your statement in and of itself explains why we should not keep allowing our industries to hire this cheap labor while they deny jobs to Americans.

I don't know that anyone has ever said we are enemies with the average illegal immigrant. I contend that they are too ignorant to realize that they are destroying the very system the look to for their salvation. I cna't condemn them for their ignorance but I can condemn my own government for letting a million+ per year come into this country to take up residence with someone else's social security number.

What happens when the schools no longer have teachers because they all throw up their hands and say, "I just can't do this anymore!" Just thie week the lead story in my town's newspaper was that there is a critical shortage of teachers.

What happens when we have no hospitals because they all went broke delivering anchor babies or treating illnesses for people who can't pay their bills? My city is in dire straits at this moment but for one new private hospital which will be just as bad off as the rest as soon as the illegals discover it's existence.

If these people cannot make enough money to support themselves, how can they ever be a boon to our society? If they have the next Albert Einstein, Booker T. Washington or Eli Whitney among them, I wouldn't be the least bit jealous if they discovered whatever it is they will discover in someone else's country.

Bottom line is, we can't keep supporting the entire third world or we are going to be the third world. Allowing twenty million illegal immigrants to live within our borders does not elevate us to grandiosity, it lowers us to stupidity.

Further, there is nothing racist about it. Some of the illegals are Eurpoean, African, Asian, Middle Eastern. The majority are from Central and South America because they are the ones who can sneak in most freely. We don't want any of them here taking jobs that should go to Americans first.

Within the past week, it was discovered that a local ring of coyotes in my city are smuggling in an average of 200 illegal aliens a month. And that is only one organized crime group. There are hundreds of other groups doing the same thing and it is suspected that this group is small potatoes by comparison to the others.

I find it infuriating that things have got this far out of hand and I'd feel a lot more charitible toward these people if they stayed on their own side of the border and came to this country legally if the opportunity arose. Breaking laws to get here and compounding them by staying here doesn't help their cause in my eyes. people trying to defend them by saying they are "only looking for work" doesn't help their cause, either. I looked for work for a good long time before I wound up doing a job I hate because some illegal got some of the jobs I wanted.

Judy, you must have lived down the road from me but we didn't even have a phone.