Health Care for Undocumented Citizens
There have been many debates recently as to how to handle the situation of healthcare for individuals who are living in the United States but are not U.S. citizens. With elections around the corner, this issue has become an intense topic for discussion on all sides of the aisle.
There are many varied opinions regarding healthcare for these individuals and families. Studies have shown that the money they generate in the economy and sometimes in taxes offsets most or all of the medical expenses they incur. Other studies say the opposite.
With Medicare and Medicaid budgets and services struggling financially there have been questions raised as to how these individuals receive medical care and what it costs the system.
In Ohio, the Columbus Dispatch Newspaper stated in an article that the poor and/or undocumented in central Ohio, line up at the free health clinic near Ohio State University. The lines begin to form hours before the clinic – which is staffed by volunteer doctors and nurses - opens for services.
There is now a proposed bill requiring Clinica Latina and other clinics that serve undocumented residents to check for immigration status and turn away any individuals who do not have documentation. The bill states that the reason is that part of the funds for this particular clinic and some others come from Ohio State University. If the clinic were to receive funds only from private sources, they could continue treating these individuals without checking their status.
The issue that this leaves could have a huge financial impact on Medicare, Medicaid and the healthcare system because it would leave undocumented citizens with only the hospital emergency room for treatment. Unlike clinics, federal law states that hospitals cannot deny services to individuals based on various issues, including immigration status. As a result, seeing a doctor at the free clinic and receiving a $5 prescription for blood pressure or diabetes medication could now cost hundreds of dollars at the emergency room, and Medicare, Medicaid and taxpayers would have to absorb those costs.
The issue of undocumented residents in this country is not a simple one, nor will it be solved simply or quickly, however, it is important for lawmakers and administrators to look at the big picture and the overall costs before eliminating programs that could save an already struggling system money just to prove a point.
