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08-11-2009, 11:18 AM #1
Latinos watching health care debate closely
Latinos watching health care debate closely
By Juliana Barbassa
Associated Press
Posted: Monday, 08/10/2009
OAKLAND — Perched at the edge of an exam table, Delmira Maravilla is anxious for a checkup — and for a timeline on the president's promise of health care for all Americans.
She's paying out of pocket for the exam, and like one-third of Latinos, the mother of nine doesn't have health insurance.
Latinos like this illegal immigrant from El Salvador have much to gain if the legislation taking shape in Washington passes.
Among the major ethnic groups, they are the least likely to have health coverage through work. And Latinos often face language and cultural hurdles to getting quality health services. They're far less likely to have a regular health care provider, and to get the kind of routine screening that prevents serious health problems.
Maravilla knows how easily her family's carefully calculated budget can be overwhelmed by the cost of health care: her 6-year-old daughter's recent fall against the edge of a table set her back a devastating $1,500 in emergency room bills. Any accident, any unexpected illness, can be catastrophic, she said.
"I would be so much calmer, less worried, if I knew I had health insurance for my family," she said. "Health problems happen to everyone, but it's too expensive for us who are poor."
Experts say health disparities among ethnic groups are great, with one in three Latinos and one in five African-Americans not having health insurance, compared with one in eight whites. And as the recession
deepens, the gap is growing along with rising unemployment and cuts to work-sponsored insurance.
"We can't have the status quo. It's just a disgrace. I don't know what other words to use," said Elena Rios, president of the National Hispanic Medical Association, a nonprofit group that represents Latino doctors.
Rios was among the advocates calling on legislators to consider measures designed to bolster care for Latinos through preventive medicine, health education and increased diversity in the medical field.
Jane Garcia, the CEO of La Clinica de la Raza where Maravilla gets her checkups, sees the need for reform every time she makes her rounds.
About 71 percent of her patients are Latino; 44 percent are uninsured, and that number has been going up. New patients range from the recently unemployed to illegal immigrants who can no longer get care in Contra Costa County, where supervisors squeezed by a budget shortfall voted to cut services to them.
"The number of people presenting for services are really overwhelming to the system," she said. "And more of them are coming in uninsured."
Although the House bill represents the most comprehensive effort to extend health care to all Americans, there is a significant segment of the population that will likely be excluded: illegal immigrants. Pressed by CBS News' Katie Couric about whether they should be covered, the president responded simply, "No."
Absent immigration reform and a path to citizenship, that would mean millions could be left out of the system. About 59 percent of the 11.9 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States have no health insurance, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.
Advocates are split on whether to hold out for reform that includes them, or support change that would help the majority of Latinos.
"This has always been the elephant in the room — all of our families are mixed, some documented, some undocumented," Rios said. "But we're so close to having health care reform. We'd be working against ourselves to let immigration issues stall the process."
Others, like Jennifer Ng'andu, deputy director of the National Council of La Raza's Health Policy Project, believe any plan that doesn't include illegal immigrants won't last. They make up about 15 percent of the nation's approximately 47 million uninsured.
"If we don't talk about integrating communities that have been traditionally shut out, we're going to be talking about health care reform again in 15 years," said Ng'andu, who has been talking to legislators and to health care advocates on their behalf.
To proponents of greater immigration controls, allowing illegal immigrants to benefit from federally subsidized health care and insurance would go against enforcement goals by legitimizing their presence.
"They would have no incentives to leave," said Mark Krikorian, of the Center for Immigration Studies.
Undocumented immigrants are the majority of Rogelio Fernandez's patients at the United Health Centers clinic in Parlier, a town of approximately 12,000 outside Fresno whose population swells and dips with field workers following agriculture's planting, pruning and harvest seasons.
His clinic provides primary care on a sliding-fee scale and discounted medication to those who need it. But in this tough economy, he's seeing patients cut back on visits and on their medication because, without insurance, they can't afford them.
"Unless they are more inclusive, these proposals really won't help a lot of our patients," Fernandez said.
Studies show that inadequate access to regular, quality health care that meets their language needs has consequences. Latinos are suffering disproportionately from chronic diseases such as diabetes and getting less preventive measures, such as cancer screenings and obesity counseling.
Not taking care of this population now will have tangible costs in the future, Rios said. Latinos make up 15 percent of the total U.S. population, but they represent 25 percent of children in preschools and kindergartens.
"We are at a time when we need change, or we're going to see an increase in obesity, diabetes, cancers, heart disease," Rios said. "It's not fair to them, to us, to the country."
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08-11-2009, 11:24 AM #2
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Illegal immigrant mother of 9........... These people have some balls let me tell you. The nerve!
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08-11-2009, 11:36 AM #3
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She's paying out of pocket for the exam, and like one-third of Latinos, the mother of nine doesn't have health insurance.
Latinos like this illegal immigrant from El Salvador have much to gain if the legislation taking shape in Washington passes.Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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08-11-2009, 11:43 AM #4Others, like Jennifer Ng'andu, deputy director of the National Council of La Raza's Health Policy Project, believe any plan that doesn't include illegal immigrants won't last. They make up about 15 percent of the nation's approximately 47 million uninsured.RIP Butterbean! We miss you and hope you are well in heaven.-- Your ALIPAC friends
Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn
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08-11-2009, 11:49 AM #5
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More Politicanese Double-talk
Even in Arlen Specter's town hall in PA, he said he would not support any illegals being covered.
Arlen Specter is doing a "Pelosi" that is, he says he doesn't support illegals being covered but he does support Amnesty which will make illegals American citizens and we will all get stuck paying for their sorry third world butts..........that's what he supports.Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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08-11-2009, 11:50 AM #6
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I will be posting this article all over. I am printing it out and passing it along. People must see this BS. She is expecting a free ride for 9 children!! La Raza does her check ups now boo hoo, we're paying for that too!. They should have payed to get your dam tubes tied.
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08-11-2009, 11:53 AM #7Latinos like this illegal immigrant from El Salvador have much to gain if the legislation taking shape in Washington passes.
And then there are the anchor babies that need to get no citizenship thus no free services.Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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08-11-2009, 11:54 AM #8
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She's paying out of pocket for the exam, and like one-third of Latinos, the mother of nine doesn't have health insurance.We can't deport them all ? Just think of the fun we could have trying!
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08-11-2009, 11:58 AM #9
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Save money and stop illegal invasion.
Just a thought in this health care reform bill they are saying that people over 60 (Considered seniors) will be given euthanasia counseling and end of life assistance over treatment for Cancer and/or other diseases. Well, this same thing could be applied to illegals (regardless of future status). Instead of giving them and/or their anchors medical care, the gov't can shuffle them to euthanasia counseling and/or give them end of life assistance. The gov't is always talking about saving money, well this will save them a ton of money and will stop the illegal immigration problem all at the same time. This is a two-for-one solution.
Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
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08-11-2009, 12:16 PM #10
Got the link?
Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
Laura Loomer - Woke up this morning to a @nytimes article...
03-27-2024, 11:36 PM in General Discussion