Healthcare for Undocumented Immigrants- Report Sample

Introduction

The problem in the united states is the healthcare expenses for undocumented immigrants who come into the country expecting to get better healthcare systems and lifestyles. The immigrants, therefore, take advantage of the EMTALA, which is an act that allows for free healthcare services without consideration of the legal status. Undocumented immigrants, however, exert more pressure on the USA resources; therefore, policy options are required to leverage the problem. The policy options are used to provide for sustainability in the country. The three policy options are the affordable care act, funding of undocumented residents' non-emergency treatment, and the personal responsibility and work reconciliation Act.

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Funding

Funding for non-emergency treatment for undocumented residents' policy effectively helps the citizens afford healthcare costs at any time of need. The policies reduce the illegal immigrant's reliance on the EMTALA benefits and improve their health status to contribute to its economy. The funds will help reduce congestion in the emergency rooms since the undocumented immigrants will be able to access healthcare services and not rely on free emergency care (Healthcare Management Associates, 2017). The funds help improve the healthcare public image, and also it acts as a way of exercising corporate social responsibility. The charitable act will reduce the discrimination brought about by the legislation used to control immigrants. However, it has a weakness attached to the Texas taxpayers’ amount being used to service the program. The program's cost is expensive, and much of the taxes are channeled in the program, making the residents feel bad since the undocumented immigrants do not pay taxes. The residents also believe that the $3 million used to treat illegal immigrants can be channeled to help out other people.

Policy

The following policy is the affordable care Act initiated by former president Barrack Obama to help provide care at affordable rates for the US citizens. The Affordable care Act provides preventive strategies, which lowers the number of patients in emergency rooms. The ACA enables undocumented immigrants to seek non-emergency healthcare services at health safety nets (Perreira & Pedroza, 2019). It also makes undocumented immigrants legible for emergency care but under federal laws. Likewise, they also have a chance to access Medicaid services for low incomes. The ACA policy's weaknesses are that undocumented immigrants do not pay taxes, which are used to fund the programs. The policy will also increase congestion in the emergency rooms. It makes the undocumented immigrants lazy in getting the legal documentation since they can enjoy all the benefits of a legal citizen.

Conclusion

The last policy is the responsibility and works reconciliation Act, which categorized immigrants into qualified and unqualified immigrants. In the policy, the eligible immigrants were noted and their duration of stay in the country. On the other hand, undocumented immigrants fell under non-qualified immigrants; therefore, denied access to federal benefits (Wallace et al., 2012). The act assisted needy families, enabling undocumented immigrants to fall lucky for healthcare services. However, the policy's weaknesses are that it discriminates the immigrants, and this is unethical. Healthcare providers are also in a dilemma on whether to save the lives of undocumented immigrants or not.

References

Healthcare Management Associates, (2017). Excerpt of The Tarrant County Long Range Planning Related to JPS Health Network -DRAFT.

Perreira, K. M., & Pedroza, J. M. (2019). Policies of exclusion: implications for the health of immigrants and their children. Annual review of public health, 40, 147-166. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6494096/

Wallace, S. P., Torres, J., Sadegh-Nobari, T., Pourat, N., & Brown, E. R. (2012). Undocumented immigrants and health care reform. UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, 1-48. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/publications/Documents/PDF/undocumentedreport-aug2013.pdf.