Healthcare
Foreign-Born to Help Fill Gap in U.S. Doctors
While Americans are justifiably worried about high unemployment levels and the “jobless recovery,” Reps. Lamar Smith, Steve King, and Elton Gallegly are attempting to use America’s concerns as an opportunity to pass more restrictive immigration policies. In fact, immigration restrictionists across the country have taken advantage of the poor economy to push their anti-immigrant agenda. But there’s another story to be told. Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that there are simply not enough doctors in the U.S. to treat the population. Some areas are already experiencing doctor shortages, and as the new health care law is fully implemented, more and more people will be eligible for health insurance and will need care. As many as 150,000 doctors could be needed in the next 15 years. Immigrants will most certainly be helpful in filling the gap. Read More
Senator Graham is Further Evidence that Immigration Reform is a Bipartisan Effort
Do not be misled by recent events. U.S. Senator and possible immigration reform bill co-sponsor Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is no liberal. Lately, Sen. Graham has drawn the ire of county Republican parties in South Carolina by voting for the White House’s bank bailout plan as well as Democrat-sponsored climate change legislation. These votes resulted in his third censure by county Republican parties in the last two years. Local Republicans are furious despite Sen. Graham’s vehement opposition to healthcare reform and his goal of stopping an “out-of-control Obama agenda.” Read More
Connecting the Dots Between Immigration and Health Care Reform
As Congress continues to broker the specifics of health care legislation, some reports cite key Democrats as allegedly holding out their support of the bill contingent on a solid White House promise that a comprehensive immigration reform bill will be addressed this year—a reform bill that would provide health care coverage options to all immigrants, including undocumented immigrants on an earned path to citizenship. Read More
Public Opinion Polls and the Future of Immigration Reform
For those of us who live and breathe immigration reform, it’s hard to remember that immigration isn’t everyone’s top priority. Not surprisingly, public opinion polls and headlines constantly remind us that health care and the economy consistently top the concerns of the general public. Even among Latino voters, a new study shows that health care is the most pressing issue. But this is neither a big surprise nor should it lead to the conclusion that immigration isn’t important. Polls are snapshots, taking the picture of the public psyche on a given day, at a given time, in the context of a range of political concerns. Read More
House Health Care Bill a Mixed Bag for Immigrants
Late on Saturday night the House passed its health care reform bill and put the ball back in the Senate’s court. The goal is to make health care more affordable and more accessible for millions of Americans. Once again, immigration became a major obstacle to the bill’s passage as immigration restrictionists and others pushed for harsher language and verification rules to exclude unauthorized immigrants from the bill’s benefits. Read More
Report Details Dangers of Denying Health Care Coverage to Legal Immigrants
Last week, the Senate Finance Committee completed its mark up of its health care reform bill. Amendments that would have further restricted legal immigrants’ access to health care and imposed burdensome new verification requirements on everyone failed in the committee. Now both the Senate and the House have their work cut out for them as they combine various bills into one and bring them to the floor for final votes. It’s likely that we will see additional attempts to save money by cutting health care to legal immigrants. It’s also likely that more political statements about denying benefits to illegal immigrants will arise. This week the Migration Policy Institute released a new report, Immigrants and Health Care Reform: What’s Really at Stake? This groundbreaking report provides cold hard facts about the numbers of immigrants that would be affected by the various proposals in Congress. When analyzing the dangers of denying health care coverage to legal immigrants, MPI’s report examined Census data and discovered that: Read More
Health Care Experts Agree: Including Immigrants in Health Care Reform Saves Taxpayers Money
Yesterday, the Sun Sentinel reported on what health experts have been saying throughout the factious health care debate: excluding immigrants from health care reform could jeopardize public health and leave costly gaps in insurance coverage. Health experts agree that preventative care, rather than costly emergency room visits—which cost, on average, about $1000 per visit—not only prevents the spread of infectious disease but also saves American taxpayers money in the long run. “If I’m standing next to someone who has tuberculosis and who is uninsured, it doesn’t protect me if they aren’t treated,” said Fernando Trevino, dean of the School of Public Health at Florida International University. “To the degree that someone is not getting care, they are more likely to spread infectious diseases to the rest of the population.” Read More
The Immigration Policy Center’s Weekly News Roundup
As the Senate finance committee began mark up of their health care bill, immigration advocates went to work ensuring that legal immigrants are included in reform without unfair waiting periods and debated the inclusion of onerous verification systems in the health care system—which makes the eligibility process more complicated and even puts U.S. citizens, who are not able to provide the proper documentation, at risk. Read More
Spanish Language Media Holds President Obama To His Promises
When President Obama hit the talk show circuit last weekend, he also included a visit to Al Punto, Univision’s weekend news program with anchor Jorge Ramos. Ramos questioned the President about undocumented immigrants, health care reform and his promise to reform the U.S. immigration system within the first year of his presidency. A tiny soundbite from that interview circulated the media last week which focused on the timing of comprehensive immigration reform, but the real lesson from this interview is that people are watching the subtle shifts in language and wording the administration has been using to discuss immigration and whether those shifts represent a change in commitment. Mr. Ramos politely but firmly pressed the President to answer to his promises—“la promesa de Obama”—to the U.S. immigrant and Latino population. The answers show a president who remains committed to immigration reform but who is also facing a series of practical challenges that have consequences for his full political agenda. Read More
VA Town Hall Meeting on Immigration Reform Sets Debate Tone
Amid numerous reports that the Obama Administration is edging away from a timeline on an immigration reform bill, the often spirited town hall meetings have already begun. Last night, Virginia Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) held a town hall meeting at a church in Falls Church, VA, to discuss pending immigration legislation. In a room full of more than 300 area residents and a few local groups—NAACP, Asian Americans of Virginia and the Dar Al HirJrah Islamic Center—Congressman Jim Moran said he plans to co-sponsor Congressman Luis Guiterrez’s forthcoming immigration bill and spoke of the importance of progress and the danger of ignoring the status quo. Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
