Immigration And Healthcare Essay, Research Paper

As many as 830,000 non-citizen immigrants are residents of California. Nearly

one in five non-citizens, under the age of 65 in California, is covered by Medi-Cal.

Medi-Cal is an essential source of healthcare insurance for millions of

low-income, elderly, and disabled residents of California. ?Despite its

anti-immigrant reputation, California has been among the most generous of the 50

states in providing public aid to needy non-citizens who lost benefits in the

1996 federal welfare overhaul.? Under current law, legal immigrants are

eligible for Medi-Cal if they meet income and other requirements established by

the state. Illegal immigrants may obtain Medi-Cal only for emergency medical

services and for prenatal care. ?California, home to about one-third of the

nation?s immigrants, passed ballot initiatives in this decade targeting

illegal immigrants, health care, affirmative action, and bilingual education.?

Last year taxpayers spent more than one-hundred million dollars in aid and

benefits for immigrants. ?Governor Gray Davis, in one of several early

attempts to reverse his republican predecessor?s policies, wants the state to

spend $60 million on prenatal care for poor pregnant women who are illegal

immigrants, money that former Governor Pete Wilson repeatedly fought to cut from

California?s bugdet.? ?It is estimated that for every dollar the state

spends on health care for pregnant women, it saves $3.00 in health care costs

for infants who otherwise would be born with preventable maladies.? The loss

of this health coverage would primarily affect children and women by cutting

access to essential health services such as prenatal care and emergency rooms.

This would then result in higher medical costs (increased cost to taxpayers) due

to people delaying to seek medical attention and unnecessary hospitalizations.

?Those hurt most by restricting prenatal care, health advocates said, would be

United States born children, who are automatically citizens, regardless of their

mother?s immigration status. Prenatal care is an important tool for

discovering AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases.? By eliminating health care

for non-citizen pregnant women, we are endangering the health and lives both the

mother and the child which is indeed a United States citizen.