The Benefits Of Health Care

Even though the United States is one of the most advanced nations it still does not provide healthcare for all. Not everyone can obtain insurance under Obamacare, a lot more people are going to remain uninsured due to high costs (para 3). If something similar was made to Universal Healthcare they should make it more affordable for the low-income families who live from their low paying jobs day to day and have families to take care of. “Additionally, starting in 2014, there will be tax credits to help middle-class Americans buy coverage” (para 4). Middle-class people do not need as much help as the low-income families when it comes to helping buy coverage they should help the low-income families who live with not enough money to even feed their families. The government is helping the people who have the capability of getting more money by working harder. But the low-income people do not have that possibility because even if they work two jobs, the hourly pay is very low. And what they make a year is also low. Illegal immigrants make up 4 percent of the population. Immigrants use health care less than legal residents because they don’t use it until they really have to. About 11

It is not just the poverty-stricken population that can’t afford insurance. The cost of U.S. health care and insurance is out of reach even for those who do not live in what we technically classify as “poverty”. By the 2003 Federal Poverty Guidelines, released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human services, poverty

Financial barriers to access health care are common in a low-income family when they are uninsured or underinsured. Many uninsured and undocumented immigrant received federal and state health care coverage. Latinos and African American are the ethnicities that are disproportionally get affected. Limited access to a doctor when they are sick, taking non-prescribed medication and holding off recommended treatment is only some of the problems they encountered (Carrillo et al., 2011).

There are several arguments spotlighting the effect of illegal immigration on current rising health care cost. To this point, illegal immigrants and elected representatives across the country are unable to deny the increased costs placed upon the backs of American taxpayers due to the rise in health care and health care insurance cost. A bill initiated in Indiana will demand local hospitals create a report regarding the costs associated with treating illegal immigrants. Additionally, on a countrywide level, there is an ongoing endeavor to push illegal immigrant children toward federally funded Children’s Health Insurance by the governing body which in turn will effectively raise the current tax rates for all Americans. As an alternative, some policymakers are trying to use creative language in order to guarantee that illegal immigrants were blocked from obtaining health care services (Maxwell & Adolfo 324). For undocumented immigrants within the United States, acquiring health related services or care systematically increases the cost for American taxpayers across the board. Health care providers, Health care insurance companies and both the state and federally supplemented health care funds ( i.e. Medicaid) are forced to close the gap on the negative revenue return by increasing cost of services due to the excessive use and write off of public health care funds and services by illegal immigrants.

However, in states that have not expanded Medicaid, eligibility for adults remains limited, with median eligibility level for parents just 44% of poverty and adults without dependent children ineligible in most cases. Over 3 million poor uninsured adults are in the “coverage gap” because they earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to qualify for Marketplace premium tax credits

The Affordable Care Act is designed to increase access to inexpensive health care coverage, but the law omits one group of people from advancing: the nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants presently existing in the United States. The high costs of health care and the loss of health insurance coverage are two significant long-term challenges that provoke many Americans. These problems are particularly severe for migrants in the United States, who have predominantly low rates of health insurance coverage and poor access to health care services. Once settled in the country, many migrants face a lifetime of change and acculturation.

There have been legislative bills that have limited the access that illegal immigrants have to medical care, whether it be private insurance or with federal help such as state funded resources like Medical. For example the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 restricts medical care for illegal immigrants. Jeffrey Kullgren a medical student at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, argues that having severe limitations on health care services threatens the public’s health. He argues that the original purposes of the act were to reduce illegal immigration and preserve resources yet the act burdens health care providers and endangers the public’s health. The act stated that it was made in order to “remove the incentive for illegal immigration” and so that “individual aliens not burden the public benefits system”. These were the argument made in order to place eligibility restrictions for service made available by the local, state and federal governments. Although there were exceptions to the act, such as being able to get emergency care and immunizations, it still made getting proper health care very difficult. Placing these kinds of restrictions on people Kullgren argues has consequences on health. One is that it leads to greater waiting times and increase cost which reduces the efficiency of medical facilities. Another is that it can affect the lives of the American born children of immigrants. Although they are able to receive medical services, their parents are afraid to seek health care because they believe that they can get deported. Or they are not sure of whether their children are able to get medical coverage. Another negative result due to the act, Kullgren states, is that public resources are not being effectively used. It costs more to treat emergency situations that could have been easily prevented or that could have

Maria C. Abascal’s  “Reform’s mixed impact on Immigrants” is a reliable source. In this article, the author Abascal refers to how complicated it can be for undocumented immigrants to be covered for health care with the Affordable Care Act, and how it can provide benefits to legal immigrants. The article quickly introduced a waiting time period for legal immigrants to receive later benefits such as Medicaid, etc. and that waiting period is “five years” (Abascal, Para 2). It really doesn't make any sense for legal immigrants to wait that long, which shows how divide the United State is to its residents when it comes to resources. However, since they are not American citizens, I can understand the difference, but everyone’s health matters.

Even with some especial programs like ACA, a lot of people can’t afford for coverage due to extreme rate of poverty.”Cost still poses a major barrier to coverage for the uninsured. In 2015, 46% of uninsured adults said that the primary reason they were uninsured was because it was too expensive, making it the most common reason cited for being uninsured”(Key

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was the first step that the United States takes in order to provide greater access to health care coverage, reduce health care spending rate, and improve the quality of service. Ever since the implantation of the ACA, millions of Americans were able to have access to health care coverage. However, the ACA fails to include the undocumented immigrants. Compared with other immigrant group in the United States, undocumented immigrants have lower rates of health insurance coverage. The studies shows that undocumented Latinos were less likely to check their health and they report that “blood pressure being check in the past 2 years and cholesterol checked in the past 5 years. There was 40% reported that reported receiving

Today, the United States faces budget problems at local, state, and national levels. Soon, Congress will vote whether or not to raise the national debt ceiling, hoping to avoid defaults on loans and causing further harm to a slumping economy. While federal budget cuts will have to be made should the ceiling be lifted or not, cuts are also being felt on a local level, even in places like education. While not completely responsible for these problems, there are over 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. Unfortunately, about 59% of them do not have health insurance. With 25% of legal immigrants uninsured, that creates a large population that cannot seek or receive proper medical treatment (Wolf, 2008). Fixing this

Access to health care can be influenced directly or indirectly by the level of education, the type of work immigrant do and income. (Dorose, scarce & Lurie, 2007) have discussed the decreased likelihood of immigrants to graduate from high school than the U.S. born population and immigrant populations are more likely to work in service related occupations and live in poverty.

A memorandum authored by Edwards (2010) for the Center for Immigration Studies, contends that of the estimated 6.7 million uninsured undocumented immigrants 3.1 million would be eligible for Medicaid. Edwards (2010) proclaims this entitlement is due to the low incomes earned, which is unlikely to waver based on low educational attainment. While Edwards (2010) acknowledges that undocumented immigrants are generally younger and have better health than the overall Medicaid population, the author posits that, “covering 3.1 million amnestied immigrants would conservatively cost taxpayers $48.6 billion dollars…between 2014-2019” (Edwards, 2010, p. 1). This number does not include those undocumented immigrants, which if granted access to the benefits of the ACA, who would receive subsidies based on income. Thus the author argues the conservative nature of the estimates, and concerns over the difficulties presented in estimating actual costs of insuring the undocumented population (Edwards,

In 2010, ANA released a brief stating their stance on access to health care for both documented and undocumented immigrants residing in the states. In the brief, the group asserts that health care is a basic human right. They state that “immigrants, whether documented or not, should have access to quality health care including the opportunity to purchase insurance” (Godfrey, 2010). Undocumented immigrants do not seek medical assistance to manage chronic illness for fear of deportation and cost. This means their health status will continue to deteriorate and the cost to provide treatment will skyrocket. “Limiting adequate health care leads to increases in health care costs and possible health risks” (Godfrey, 2010). At this time, this population is only eligible to apply for charity care at local acute care facilities and one time only emergency Medicaid, burdening the taxpayer. Allowing people to purchase their own health insurance will lower the cost in health care (Godfrey,

Changes in access to health care across different populations are the chief reason for current disparities in health care provision. These changes occur for several reasons, and some of the main factors that contribute to the problem in the United States are: Lack of health insurance – Several racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and other minority groups lack adequate health insurance coverage in comparison with people who can afford healthcare insurance. The majority of these individuals are likely to put off health care or go without the necessary healthcare and medication that is needed. Lack of financial resources – Lack of accessibility to funding is a barrier to health care for a lot of people living in the United States