Shouuld Illegal Immigrants Be Entitled to Health Care?

With an ailing economy and a struggling health care system, the national debate that President Obama and his administration have instigated over their proposals of radically overhauling the current health care system has taken center stage in U.S. politics. One of the most heated questions in this debate is whether or not illegal immigrants should have a place in the new "national" health care system being put on the table by leading proponents of national health care, such as Hilary Clinton and John Edwards. While the current proposition being made would exclude, for the most part, illegal immigrants from the health care plan, the question boils down to whether or not illegal immigrants are entitled to certain health care rights on the sole basis of simply being in this country. I believe that that answer, if we are true Americans, if we are true humans, must be "yes".

Right now, the numbers are indeed staggering to look at. As it stands now, an estimated 59% of illegal immigrants are uninsured (Wolf 2008). Compare that to around 25% of legal immigrants and about 14% of naturalized U.S. citizens. This data is only about adults as well. Broken down even further, we see the percentages of children here in the U.S. reflect the same disparity. About 53% of foreign-born children of illegal immigrants have no coverage, compared to around 25% of children with legal status by being born here from illegal immigrant parents, and another 25% of foreign-born children of legal immigrants, and rounding out the list are children whose parents are legal immigrants coming in at 13% and only 9% of naturalized children being uninsured. Frankly, these numbers are frightening, and they're only on the rise. Studies show that over the last three decades, the number of uninsured illegal immigrants living in the United States has grown by about 30%, and they now constitute about 15% of the nation's estimated 47 million uninsured people (2008). Something must be done, and it must be done soon.

However, what I believe must not be done is to turn our backs on the people that are here in this country. There is no denying that health care costs are rising. There is no question that the economy is starting to squeeze the American taxpayer to the point of breaking. Right now, there is no doubt that the American taxpayer can't hold the burden paying for health care for both U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants, and that any national health care system that tries to encompass both without some complementary plan to deal with the immigration problem will ultimately crush itself under its own weight. This is not, though, a problem that we can't deal with, and we can deal with it without leaving out people who are in desperate need of health care.

First, the argument that illegal immigrants here now should have access to both health care and insurance for their medical bills should be addressed. We cannot simply turn people in need of medical attention away, we simply can't. The American Nurses Association (ANA) code of ethics first and most important mission is: Doctors and nurses "in all professional relationships, [should practice] with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems." It is the primary purpose of the medical profession to help those in need, regardless of their situation. What right does our government have to hold the decision of who is to be helped and who is not to be helped, indeed of who is to live and who is to suffer and die? The idea of allowing some government authority, who has no idea of the particular situation an individual might be in, decide life or death situations seems a bit over the line, and it would be in complete contrast with the ANA Code of Ethics and the mission of medicine itself. Denying treatment based solely on immigration status would be compromising our moral integrity and our humanity.

The problem remains, though, of how to pay the exorbitant costs of our current health care system should we keep it, or how to pay the exorbitant costs of a new, national health care system should we reform it. It seems like we're between a rock and a hard place. Massive overhauls need to be instituted, but the Obama administration's dream can become a reality with time. As for the place illegal immigrants have in the system, they also have a spot in the system. However, in order for this to be fully realized, the United States must crack down on illegal immigration. Under a fixed-cost model, with illegal immigration tapering off, the system can hold and be saved or rebuilt if necessary. This does not hold true in a variable-cost model though. If the level of illegal immigration continues as it has over the last three decades, the health care system will inevitably collapse no matter what plan we find ourselves under. The politicians in Washington have to realize this. We have seen the statistics, and they're bad. The answer to successful and meaningful health care reform doesn't lie in what system we end up choosing, but how we choose to handle our immigration problem. This is why illegal immigrants have taken center stage in the health care debate. This is why this issue is so important.

My personal suggest: we institute a sort of health care amnesty toward all illegal aliens living in the country right now. They should be eligible to insurance and health plans that other American taxpayers are entitled to. There are simply too many illegal immigrants to deny now. We also should make it where illegal immigrants aren't afraid to go to the doctors because of fear of deportation. Patient-Doctor confidentiality should remain one of the highest priorities. However, complementing that, we need to institute a rigorous immigration system that can effectively turn the tide on our porous borders. We simply must get our borders under control or there will be no system or answer that we come up with that will adequately address the out-of-control health care system. Our real goal for health care should be to maintain our borders, then we can focus on managing or reforming a failing health care system. If we can bring illegal immigration under control, the health care will be in comparison an easy fix.

References:

Wolf, R. (2008). Rising health care costs put focus on illegal immigrants. USA Today, Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-01-21-immigrant-healthcare_N.htm