KEEPING IMMIGRANTS OUT OF HEALTHCARE

 

What?:

As current health care law stands, the 11 million undocumented people residing in the United States do not have access to any medical benefits.The current immigration reform proposal stipulates that an immigrant must wait 15 years until he or she can apply for any "anti-poverty" programs like Medicaid or food stamps. This 15 year period must also start after the individual has received a green card, and cannot be applied for during "provisional status". However, during the 15 year period after the person has received a green card, he or she will pay taxes into these types of "anti-poverty" programs.

History:

Since 1996 there have been restrictions as to what benefits an immigrant can receive in the U.S. while not having legal status. This restrictions were originally put in place as a means to decrease people coming into the country for benefits. This theory over the years has been proven wrong. Regardless of the lack of benefits being provided to undocumented people, immigration numbers have continued to rise in which the only drop has been during tough economic times.

How Could This Hurt the Economy?:

First off, any good business person would probably agree that it is important to have an maintain a healthy workforce. Having one or even multiple employees who become ill and do not have access to care can decrease the businesses overall productivity, which would be the same result if a parent has to take time off for a sick child that also cannot see a physician or get the proper antibiotics. The same children that may cause a parent to miss work will also be forced to miss school, which could lead to the child being less assimilated and not as successful in the future. If any of the people I listed above have a condition that worsens, in turn causing the individual to make a visit to the emergency room, all of these uninsured costs than fall on local governments and individuals. It would be more beneficial for the federal government, the citizens, and undocumented individuals to give them access to affordable health care and insurance.

http://immigrationimpact.com/