Article Title: Will nation follow California on healthcare for immigrants here illegally?
The Nation has been set to task for the provision of healthcare to all immigrants who reside in the USA illegally after California decided to provide health care for all irrespective of one's status. The topic supports fundamental human rights of health care to all regardless of immigration status as an essential human right. California, a blue State, has embraced Obamacare but does not support locking out immigrants from the benefits associated with the Obamacare plan.
Relevance to Health Policy.
Health policy on Obamacare has several guidelines regarding the eligibility of persons to qualify for the Marketplace, who include U.S citizens, U.S nationals and lawfully present immigrants. Groups not considered eligible for the marketplace include undocumented immigrants and those under incarceration as indicated by (Wallace, Torres, Pouret and Sadegh-Nobari, 2013). The health policy on Obamacare dictates that certain statuses qualify for the marketplace including refugees, Lawful Permanent Residents, Asylees, Victims of trafficking amongst other immigrants as indicated by (Wallace, Torres, Pouret and Sadegh-Nobari, 2013). California has a large populous of illegal immigrant ineligible for medical care but has taken the bold step of offering medical services to the immigrants. California’s stance on the provision of healthcare is at loggerheads with the national policy primarily due to the high costs involved in the delivery of health care services to the immigrants.
Current situation, proposals, and recommendations.
Proposals to ignore the policy regulations on the healthcare of immigrants is extremely expensive and is set to cost the state in excess of $1 billion dollars annually as indicated in the Times, (2015). The landmark move by legislators in California is against the groundbreaking Affordable Care Act that barred immigrants from receiving insurance as part of a renovated national healthcare system. Population figures indicate that immigrants in the state currently stand at 2.6 million thus the political mileage afforded to such residents of California according to the Times (2015). Questions raised against the issue of providing health care for immigrants have receded over time with more emphasis on the issue of costs that will be used to cover the immigrants. Experts warn that with better economic conditions expected in the future, the question of accepting medical coverage is a possible health care policy debate.
According to the times (2015), the inevitability of provision of health care for immigrants has also been magnified through recent court rulings that allowed the universal coverage of new inventiveness in health care policy. Provision of health services to immigrants has already commenced in four other states though coverage only applies to children. Broadening of the coverage net is expected to include adults in the four states in the near future. Health policy under the Affordable Care Act is therefore challenged considering the approach taken by some states to provide health care to all persons regardless of their eligibility.
Recommendation policies to solve the problem.
Several policies can be mooted to help address the impasse in providing health care to immigrants. Policy options include expanding health care insurance coverage. Such a policy should be centered towards the expansion of access services insurance for community clinics and any other care venues. Employer-based insurance can also be used for immigrants. Such a policy will make it easier for immigrants to access coverage. Thirdly, policies on building and expanding a safety net structure to help ease the burden on current health services as immigration population grows into various areas in the country. Additional support is required for such areas to improve the viability of health services in such zones in the long-term. Improvement of areas with high immigrants through staffing or infrastructure will help solve the predicament on health care for immigrants. Recommendations should be made to support federally supported clinics as aforementioned and in the expansion of health care coverage.
References.
Times, L. (2015). Will nation follow California on healthcare for immigrants here illegally? Retrieved 5 February 2016, from http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-immigrant-health-analysis-20151002-story.html
Wallace, S. P., Torres, J., Sadegh-Nobari, T., & Pourat, N. (2013). Undocumented and Uninsured: Barriers to Affordable Care for Immigrant Population.
