I just read an angry rant about how so many "illegal" women in Dallas get free and excellent medical care when they are pregnant and US citizens don't get anything for free. Well, both of those statements are debateable and highly generalized.
I agree with a small portion of what was said there (you can find the rant on snopes.com) even though I work every day helping some "illegal" patients get free medical care. But the health care system does NOT favor them over truly poor US citizens. Any US citizen who is pregnant cannot be denied medical care, no matter how much money she does or does not earn. Nor can anyone on US soil be denied care in a true emergency situation. A pregnant US citizen may have to prove her income, but if she is poor, she gets the same care the "illegal" women get. The rant said that "illegals" don't even have to prove their income since they don't have Social Security numbers. (By the way, to my knowledge God doesn't make any illegal people.)
However, it is true that many people from many different countries come here without following the legal process. Did you know that the USA allows only a certain number of Mexicans and Central and South Americans to come here each year, and that quota is a very small number compared to the number of applicants? Also it takes a lot of money and many months or years of bureaucratic red tape to emigrate legally. If a non-US citizen doesn't already have a US employer willing to sponsor her to come here, or an immediate family member to petition for him to come here, s/he cannot legally immigrate here. I have helped people fill out immigration forms and believe me, the process is very complicated. It is not surprising to me hat many poor and desperate people give up on the government's immigration process and come here any way they can.
Back to the "illegals" getting great health care in the USA... First, sometimes the poor and vulnerable people of any race or status do NOT get good care in this country. Secondly, I think there are many big problems more worthy of our attention in our health care system in the USA. There is too much overhead and time spent coding and doing paperwork. There are also very high malpractice insurance costs. If we could reduce those, we could greatly reduce the cost to the consumers. Big insurance companies don't want that to happen, though. Doctors, nurses and other medical personnel often spend more time on paperwork and coding than actually caring for patients. And don't even get me started on the huge profits made by drug companies.
Regardless of all those issues, I don't think we should be upset that "illegals" get good treatment. I think we should be upset that NOT ALL people get good treatment regardless of their race, age, legal status, mental status, or income. In fact, that is what good medical providers strive to do, despite all the obstacles they face each day. The medical organization I work for believes that our mission is to help the poor and vulnerable that other systems have ignored or treated poorly. I enjoy working at a place that really strives to help these people as well as provide excellent care for those who are lucky enough to have insurance and good jobs. That is not to say that my organization is without faults. It is made up of humans, so there is always room for improvement.
Immigration is a very complicated issue. At the crux of the issue, I know that people don't leave their loved ones and homeland unless their circumstances there are pretty unbearable and they truly want to provide a better life for their families. All of our ancestors were immigrants to this country at one time unless we are Native Americans. And the way those immigrants came and took the land from the natives was neither legal nor humane in many cases. (This is a brutal fact which pains me greatly since many of my predecessors were Native Americans.)
In the end, I feel all people are children of God, and when they are in need of medical care they should get good care. That is not to say that all our laws and policies are good and fair in this country. Luckily, we all have the power to initiate change. Sadly, very few of us actually do more than complain about the way things are. So, the moral of this story for me? Treat others as you wish to be treated and don't idly stand by and accept injustice as "just the way things are" while you drive your SUV to the mall and to Starbucks every other day. (Sorry but pollution and overconsumption are always on my mind). Finally, I do believe the quote by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - "Injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere." I hope we will all work for justice and peace wherever we see them lacking.
1 comment:
I think that we have completely lost our compassion for the poor, because we have no concept as to how lucky we are just by accident of birth. It is easy to sit in our comfortable, climate-controlled houses, with our fancy cars in the garage, and bitch about how others are taking what they are not entitled to. Can we even conceive of being so desperate that we would be willing to give up our homes, our country, our loved ones and friends, our language, our culture to go somewhere that we are discriminated against and are forced to live in fear as a ciiminal just to do jobs that others' think they are too good for? I am not going to throw the first stone, I promise you this. Great topic.
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