Thread: Undocumented, uninsured and the unknown

Undocumented, uninsured and the unknown
Providing care to undocumented immigrants leaves policymakers and doctors torn between financial hang-ups and a moral obligation to care for the sick.

Published: 02/09/2010
By Jessica Van Berkel

lizabeth Frost told her patient at La Clinica to go to the emergency room three times. His heart condition was serious, but the patient, an undocumented immigrant, was afraid of being deported. In the end, a visit to Regions Hospital was unavoidable.

The patient underwent a quadruple bypass, but the procedure came too late. He died three weeks after Frost’s initial warning.

The paralyzing fear of being deported is a dangerous deterrent for uninsured, undocumented immigrants in Minnesota.

The overall population of uninsured in Minnesota has increased by more than 100,000 since 2007, with immigrants twice as likely to be uninsured than the general population, according to data released by the Minnesota Department of Health on Friday.

For undocumented people and documented immigrants who have been in the United States for less than five years, affording private insurance is often impossible. They are also ineligible for government-subsidized health insurance like Medicare or General Assistance Medical Care.

Doctors say something needs to change. But public policy experts like Center for Immigration Studies Research Director Steven Camarota say the change will have to come though a far more complicated path: immigration reform, which Camarota said politicians want to touch “as much as they want to put their hand in an open flame.â€

Just all the more reason to get all these people out of our country and back home to theirs. If I hear one more frigging sob story from an illegal alien, dead or alive, I'll barf.

guess what... we are not paying it.. we refuse to foot the bill one day longer

It's time for politicians to go on trial for TREASON.. this is not a perfect storm ~ This is a Perfect Take down of the American way of life and there are many politicians that would love just that

no way Jose ~ drag your backside south of the border, to Asia, to Europe.... to where ever you came from and crossed our borders ILLEGALLY or Over stayed your Visa

Bye ~ Bye and Don't come back

Originally Posted by AirborneSapper7

guess what... we are not paying it.. we refuse to foot the bill one day longer

It's time for politicians to go on trial for TREASON.. this is not a perfect storm ~ This is a Perfect Take down of the American way of life and there are many politicians that would love just that

no way Jose ~ drag your backside south of the border, to Asia, to Europe.... to where ever you came from and crossed our borders ILLEGALLY or Over stayed your Visa

Bye ~ Bye and Don't come back

Right O, AirborneSapper7!

Even if undocumented people need health care, there’s no way they are going to be able to go to the hospital because of the cost, he said. He budgets out every cent he earns as he struggles to make a living and send money back to his family.

Sounds like so many American citizens I know, except we don't skip out on our bills so we can send money out of country.