Is medical care a right in today’s world? Over 28 million people in the US are uninsured, 21 percent of whom are non-citizens, including undocumented immigrants. Treating immigrants who do not qualify or meet the standards for health benefits poses an ethical challenge for physicians who seek to provide quality care to patients, not only in the United States but worldwide. Despite there being a few providers of healthcare for uninsured and undocumented immigrants, many non-citizens do not seek care due to fear of family separation, detention, or even deportation. Researchers also found that few people are aware of programs serving undocumented patients.
America spends over 17% of its GDP on healthcare. One would think that the country spending the most on healthcare would have the best health care insurance coverage, but just the opposite is true.
Sources:
Solmaz Ehteshami-Afshar, “The problem of health care for undocumented immigrants,” Hartford Courant, February 28, 2019, https://www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-shteshami-undocumented-0228-20190228-nolhqqk5f5btpoeejlr6hach2i-story.html.
City University of New York, “Assessing the experience of undocumented immigrants with a health care financial assistance program.” Medical Express, March 12, 2019, https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-undocumented-immigrants-health-financial.html.
Claudia Boyd-Barrett, “Undocumented Immigrants Aren’t Getting Needed Mental Health Care, Report Finds,” California Health Report, February 20, 2019, https://www.calhealthreport.org/2019/02/20/undocumented-immigrants-arent-getting-needed-mental-health-care-report-finds/.
Student Researcher: Kobe Ha (Indian River State College)
Faculty Evaluator: Elliot Cohen (Indian River State College)
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