Immigrant Health

Immigrant health is such a volatile and polarizing topic poised to dominate the upcoming Presidential elections in 2008. At issue are the rising costs of health care and growingly controversial politics of immigration in this country. The inevitable interactions between health, policy, politics and public opinion gave rise to intractable debates among concerned parties, and more consequentially, poor health status of immigrants.

An article published by RAND in its September/October 2007 issue outlined the various sources of vulnerabilities for immigrants and discussed policy options that should be considered in order to improve their health status. According to the article, immigrants are more than likely to receive inadequate, poor or no health care at all compared to US-born citizens. The reasons for this disparity are the immigrants' disadvantaged socio-economic status, limited English proficiency, and the marginalization and stigma that accompany their legal status as immigrants.
The growingly unfavorable shift of policies and laws towards the immigrants only serve to inflame the issue further.

The article stated that the factors above contribute negatively to the health status of the immigrants in this country. As a result, poor access to care, as well the poor quality of care and services they receive, combine to affect serious implications on the health of the immigrants. The article considered certain policy changes that could reduce immigrant's vulnerability to poor health. Expanding the social insurance coverage, addressing the issue of language barrier, expand and strengthen community safety nets, and finally, revise federal laws that restrict immigrants' access to government-subsidized health care.

Please read the entire article in this link: http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/5/1258