The impact of immigration on the health care system in the United States

Résumé du document

According to a study conducted by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) in 2007, both legal, and illegal immigration comprised 37.9 million people living in the United States. One out of every eight U.S. residents was an immigrant, and nearly one out of every three was here illegally (Camarota 2007). Based on this study, the CIS predicted the United States would continue to experience record levels of immigration in the future (Camarota 2007).

While immigration, both legal and illegal, fulfills an important role in the United States economy, immigrants have adversely affected the U.S. health care system; a system which is already flawed and in need of reform. This paper is not a statement on whether immigration is right or wrong; it simply demonstrates how immigration has impacted the health care delivery system in the United States.
As aforementioned, immigration is essential to the function of the U.S. economy. Immigrants fulfill jobs that native workers prefer not to do, and for a lower wage. This in turn keeps low-wage manufacturing jobs within the borders of the United States, as opposed to outsourcing these jobs to countries with lower labor wages (Muller 240).

This makes business more competitive by reducing production costs. Moving these jobs to other countries would have the adverse effect of "higher imports and larger balance-of-payment deficits" (Muller 240). With primarily lower paying jobs, most immigrants do not make a large income; consequently, they cannot save very much money. What money they do earn they spend on basic commodities, revitalizing business in that area (Muste 10/19/11, Class notes). However, some scholars contend that this flow of money is confined to the ethnic enclaves in which these immigrants often live in, rather than the economy as a whole.

Extraits

[...] Namely, they lack access to primary care physicians in which the individual can participate in health screenings, vaccinations, and learn important medical information. While there are free community health clinics available in certain areas, they are largely underfunded and overwhelmed with patients. Therefore, when those who are ill postpone, or forego medical treatment altogether, it not only causes their condition to worsen, but also can trigger new medical concerns. This in turn increases both the amount of care provided and the costs associated with providing that care. [...]

[...] Muller states, “During the late 1990s, more than one-half of all interns in New York City municipal hospital were Asians; in Brooklyn Hospital, a private, nonprofit, institution, the percentage was even higher” (241). He further states, economic value of attracting trained professionals from other nations can be calculated not only by their contributions to their occupations but by the cost of their education, paid for in their country of origin. One estimate is that $500 million was saved by the prior education and training of physicians, engineers, and others who emigrated to the United States prior to 1971” (241). [...]

[...] economy, the have placed added stress on our healthcare system, exacerbating the financial crisis many hospitals face. However, before elaborating on this further, first the issue of Americans without insurance must be addressed. Currently, more than 41 million Americans are living without health insurance (Green and Martin 2004). This is primarily due to the high costs associated with purchasing health insurance. Despite the large number of Americans uninsured, studies suggest it is mainly immigrants without health insurance that are contributing to the financial burden already placed on hospitals. [...]

[...] Immigrants also access the Emergency Room for medical issues that are non-emergent. Either way, without access to a primary care physician, immigrants' resort to the only option available to them as their primary care provider, the Emergency Room, which is the most expensive source of treatment. Through the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), hospitals are mandated to treat and stabilize anyone who seeks emergency care, regardless of income, insurance, or immigration status. However, most hospitals receive little to no reimbursement for the care to legal and illegal immigrants that the federal government mandates they provide” (Green and Martin 4). [...]

[...] There is a dichotomy of views about why immigrants are less likely to have access to healthcare. Some suggest it is because immigrants are typically at a disadvantage upon their arrival to the United States socioeconomically (jobs, education, income), culturally and linguistically. Others maintain it is simply limited access to publicly provided health insurance, or federally funded insurance. A study from the Journal of the American Medical Association states, “Immigrant families are less likely as native citizens to have full-time jobs and employer sponsored health insurance” (DuBard, Massing 1089). [...]