Presentation Script:
Everyone faces hardships in the day to day life. Whether it’s with bills, children, or even accidents. Accidents are known to happen during unexpected times and during these times it may be required to have medical attention. No big problem, right ? Wrong, some individuals cannot access healthcare or as the government might say, some individuals are not “eligible” for healthcare. My presentation will focus on documented immigrants’ of the hispanic population and their accessibility to healthcare. The main topic of study is “How Accessible is Healthcare for Documented Immigrants’ of the Hispanic Population in North Carolina?” This topic has been recognized all over the country but no research is done primarily in North Carolina. Through research, I found out the barriers to healthcare access for immigrants, if immigrants suffer from unequal access to healthcare, and how the government is making it difficult for immigrants’ to access healthcare privileges. Since there is no information based primarily in North Carolina, I took the data from how many immigrants of the Hispanic race reside in North Carolina and will factor the information in with the inaccessibility of healthcare provided to immigrants’ all over. First, we will start start off by recognizing the barriers for immigrants’ to receive healthcare from other regions. There are many obstacles that prevents immigrants to have the access to affordable healthcare. Five factors were found to impact primary care access and use : lack of social contacts, lack of universal healthcare coverage during their initial arrival, language as a barrier, treatment and preferences, and geographic distance to primary care. (Kwan, Lum, & Swartz, 2016, pp. 75) Next, we will address whether immigrants’ suffer from unequal access to healthcare. I believe that immigrants without citizenship, like immigrants with only temporary visas and illegal immigrants, do, in fact, face unequal access to healthcare. I believe this because the government took measures to make it extremely difficult for immigrants to receive healthcare. For example, the 1996 Federal Welfare Reform Law restricted Medicaid eligibility of immigrants, so that those admitted to the United States after August of 1996 cannot receive coverage, except for in emergencies, in their first five years in the country.” (Ku & Matani, 2001, pp. 49) Some examples of appropriate policies include: spreading information among ethnic minorities, simplifying administrative procedures, providing cultural mediators in health care, and establishing training programs for health care professionals. ( Devillanova & Frattini, 2016, pp. 1191) All it takes is a few minor changes and the rate of healthcare for all individuals, no matter their race, would increase drastically. Let’s start working towards that change to make North Carolina a better state for everyone.
Explication of Research:
Everyone faces hardships in the day to day life. Whether it’s with bills, children, or even accidents. Accidents are known to happen during unexpected times and during these times it may be required to have medical attention. No big problem, right ? Wrong, some individuals cannot access healthcare or as the government might say, some individuals are not “eligible” for healthcare. These individuals that we will focus on are documented immigrants’ of the hispanic population. The main topic of study is “How Accessible is Healthcare for Documented Immigrants’ of the Hispanic Population in North Carolina?” This topic has been recognized all over the country but no research is done primarily in North Carolina. As you can see, it is quite difficult for immigrants to receive healthcare in North Carolina or really anywhere else if they do not have visas and healthcare or are illegal immigrants. There needs to be a solution to this inequality.
The main points we will discuss is the barriers to healthcare access for immigrants’ , if immigrants’ suffer unequal access to healthcare, and how the government is making it difficult for immigrants’ to access healthcare privileges. Since there is no information based primarily in North Carolina, I took the data from how many immigrants of the Hispanic race reside in North Carolina and will factor the information in with the inaccessibility of healthcare provided to immigrants’ all over. As of 2020, only eight percent of North Carolina residents are immigrants, while seven percent are native born U.S citizens with at least one immigrant parent. (Immigrants, 2020, para. 2) This is an important fact considering that almost ten percent of the individuals that reside in North Carolina are immigrants from some other region. However, more than a third of the immigrants that do reside in North Carolina are naturalized U.S citizens. (Immigrants, 2020, para. 2) Meaning that the naturalized U.S citizens have full rights as citizens, so they would still be able to get insurance coverage and other natural rights.
First, we will start start off by recognizing the barriers for immigrants to receive healthcare. There are many obstacles that prevents immigrants to have the access to affordable healthcare. Five factors were found to impact primary care access and use : lack of social contacts, lack of universal healthcare coverage during their initial arrival, language as a barrier, treatment and preferences, and geographic distance to primary care. (Kwan, Lum, & Swartz, 2016, pp. 75) Immigrants do not have the appropriate individuals to contact to know how to get the right healthcare since when they first arrive there is hardly any information given to them directing them to affordable care and guiding them in the right direction based on their treatment preferences. However, since Hispanics speak a different language; spanish more than likely, than citizens in North Carolina, then language is a barrier. Also, we have to consider the fact that most immigrants’ do not have transportation to and from primary care. Subsequently, another source also found barriers as to why it is difficult for immigrants of the Hispanic race to receive healthcare. The first that we can start by listing is: the needs and access to healthcare of immigrants may be affected by their adverse living and working conditions, discrimination, and diminished socio-economic opportunities. ( De Melo, 2019, pp. 34) This means that immigrants may or may not be able to afford healthcare due to where they work and their housing situations. By housing situations, I mean the bills and other necessities like food, clothes, and gas to be able to arrive to and leave from work. Immigrants’ may also face prejudicial treatment from other races because they are different physically and culturally. I believe that individuals often cast out others who do not celebrate or believe in the same things as they do, which makes it harder for immigrants’ to adapt to a new environment. Immigrants’ are also exposed to multiple health risks and have different disease profiles than residents of the host population. ( De Melo, 2019, pp. 37) Being that immigrants travel from different countries and regions, they may carry diseases that are not known to North Carolina.
Next, we will address whether immigrants’ suffer from unequal access to healthcare. I believe that immigrants without citizenship, like immigrants with only temporary visas and illegal immigrants, do, in fact, face unequal access to healthcare. I believe this because the government took measures to make it extremely difficult for immigrants to receive healthcare. For example, the 1996 Federal Welfare Reform Law restricted Medicaid eligibility of immigrants, so that those admitted to the United States after August of 1996 cannot receive coverage, except for in emergencies, in their first five years in the country.” (Ku & Matani, 2001, pp. 49) It is stated that foreigners are more likely to contact emergency services and less likely to visit specialist doctors and use preventative care. (Devillanova & Fattini, 2016, pp 1191) Immigrants who do not have insurance or permanent visas hesitate to get checked on a regular basis but if they really needed the help for life or death matters, that they’ll risk the cost and trouble. Another example of the government making it difficult for immigrants to receive access to health care is the Immigration and Naturalization Service efforts to apply “public charge” enforcement to Medicaid , asking immigrants to repay the value of Medicaid benefits received or else jeopardize their U.S residency status. (Ku & Matani, 2001, pp. 51) Immigrants do not want to have to risk their residency to pay back Medicaid bills when they sometimes already struggle to pay household bills on the day to day basis, so they’ll rather avoid medical attention until it is really an emergency. It is also stated that all new residents are subjected to a three month waiting period before becoming eligible for OHIP. During this time, new residents are encouraged to seek care from subsided services or pay private insurance plans. (Kwan, Lum, & Swartz, 2016, pp. 73)
As you can see, it is quite difficult for immigrants to receive healthcare in North Carolina or really anywhere else if they do no have visas and healthcare or are illegal immigrants. There needs to be a solution to this inequality. Some examples of appropriate policies include: spreading information among ethnic minorities, simplifying administrative procedures, providing cultural mediators in health care, and establishing training programs for health care professionals. ( Devillanova & Frattini, 2016, pp. 1191) Spreading information can help those immigrants of the hispanic race connect and learn ways to find healthcare that is affordable to them and also inform others of it too. If the government simplified administrative procedures, then maybe the hispanic race wouldn’t mind going to for regular check ups and using preventative care. The process of even getting a doctors appointment is long with tons of paperwork to fill and immigrants may not really understand the questions asked, so making the process simpler would be easy and benefit them. If hispanics recognized cultural mediators in healthcare then they would feel more comfortable because it it something they recognize and are familiar with. Lastly, establishing training programs for health care professionals will teach the staff workers how to deal with immigrants and how to approach them and their questions more effectively. All it takes is a few minor changes and the rate of healthcare for all individuals, no matter their race, would increase drastically. Let’s start working towards that change to make North Carolina a better state for everyone.
References :
De Melo, M.B., Duarte, R., Ferreira, F., Gaio, R., Linhas, R., Lourenco, J., Meireles, P., & Oliveira, O. (2019). Immigrants’ access to health care: Problems identified in a high risk tuberculosis population, Pulmonology, (25:1) 32-39 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2531043718300710#bib0215
Deveillanova, C. & Frattini, T. (2016). Inequalities in immigrants’ access to health care service: disentangling potential barriers, International Journal of Manpower, (37:7) 1191-1208 https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJM-08-2015-0114/full/html
Immigrants in North Carolina, American Immigration Council, (2020, August) https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/immigrants-north-carolina
Ku, L. & Matani, S. (2001, February). Left Out: Immigrants’ Access to Health and Insurance, Health Affairs, 20 (1) 49-51 https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.20.1.247
Kwan, Y.W. M., Lum, D.I., Swartz, H.R. (2016) Accessibility and use of primary healthcare for immigrants living in the Niagara Region, Social & Science Medicine, (156) 73-79 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953616301241
Featured Image Source: