2008 Woodie Awards
Healthcare for Immigrants? Head to Emergency Rooms
Kristina Todorovic
Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: Healthcare
Jose waits on street corners for contractors to pick him up. The illegal immigrant does construction and gets paid minimum wage. It is virtually impossible for him to pay health care for himself and his family. To avoid being homeless, Jose and his family go to the emergency room for any type of problem.
"I went to the emergency room last week for a toothache," he said.
Illegal immigrants, as well as any legal citizen, do have health coverage when admitted to a hospital and need immediate medical care. They are not allowed to be asked whether or not they are undocumented. Most illegal immigrants have found a loophole. Because they cannot legally see a doctor without paying for health insurance, they go to the ER for every medical situation.
According to Robert Pear of The New York Times, "Congress and the Bush administration agree to a certain extent, that no person should be refused care when really in need, and that the government should use public funds to help ensure access to that care."
However, the burden may be too much to bear for legal citizens. Forty-three percent of noncitizens under 65 have no health insurance. About 9.4 million immigrants are uninsured and most of them are illegal. The cost of medical care for these uninsured immigrants is passed onto the taxpayer, which in turn, strains the financial stability of the health care community.
According to Madeleine Peiner Cosman, Ph.D, of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, "What is unseen is their [illegal aliens] free medical care that has degraded and closed some of America's finest emergency medical facilities, and caused hospital bankruptcies: 84 California hospitals are closing their doors."
Illegal immigrants also are associated with the term "anchor babies."
Illegal Serbian immigrant Jelisaveta says she is "considering having a child in the hospital, to make myself and my family legal."
Jelisaveta says that it is hard being illegal in a country where things are unfamiliar. She is a single mother and is barely making ends meet. She feels forced to have another child, because as she says, "I do not know what else to do."
"I went to the emergency room last week for a toothache," he said.
Illegal immigrants, as well as any legal citizen, do have health coverage when admitted to a hospital and need immediate medical care. They are not allowed to be asked whether or not they are undocumented. Most illegal immigrants have found a loophole. Because they cannot legally see a doctor without paying for health insurance, they go to the ER for every medical situation.
According to Robert Pear of The New York Times, "Congress and the Bush administration agree to a certain extent, that no person should be refused care when really in need, and that the government should use public funds to help ensure access to that care."
However, the burden may be too much to bear for legal citizens. Forty-three percent of noncitizens under 65 have no health insurance. About 9.4 million immigrants are uninsured and most of them are illegal. The cost of medical care for these uninsured immigrants is passed onto the taxpayer, which in turn, strains the financial stability of the health care community.
According to Madeleine Peiner Cosman, Ph.D, of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, "What is unseen is their [illegal aliens] free medical care that has degraded and closed some of America's finest emergency medical facilities, and caused hospital bankruptcies: 84 California hospitals are closing their doors."
Illegal immigrants also are associated with the term "anchor babies."
Illegal Serbian immigrant Jelisaveta says she is "considering having a child in the hospital, to make myself and my family legal."
Jelisaveta says that it is hard being illegal in a country where things are unfamiliar. She is a single mother and is barely making ends meet. She feels forced to have another child, because as she says, "I do not know what else to do."
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