Undocumented patients wary of offers to return to home countries
Undocumented patients wary of offers to return to home countriesThe article "Undocumented patients wary of offers to return to home countries" by Madison Park is about the ethical, legal, and moral problems involved in illegal immigrants getting health care. The whole article is centralized around the question, "Who provides health care for illegal immigrants?" People migrate from one country to another due to many economic, environmental, and political reasons. Some people move from a poor country to a rich country just to make money and support their families. It is human nature that everybody wants the best in every aspect of their lives. All human beings belong to a single species and are decided from a common stock. They are born equal in dignity and rights and all forms an integral part of humanity (Reichert, 2006 p.85). On the one hand, illegal immigrants are not getting medical treatment from hospitals and health care providers, nor is it a moral obligation. This negligence is simply against a basic human right, "A right to life." It is reported in the article that,
"Going back to Mexico is not an option, said the 43-year-old man, kneeling next to his wife's wheelchair. His wife, 45, lost her eyesight to diabetes. She also has high blood pressure. And her kidneys are failing. For years, he has taken her to a dialysis clinic attached to a public hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. The facility that gave her free care plans to close Saturday" (Park, M. 2009).
They are illegal immigrants with no health insurance, and they say they have nowhere to go for his wife's vast medical needs. The closing clinic offered to help return them to Mexico. This article clearly expresses that all these patients want to stay in the US and get treated, but hospitals are forcing them to go back to their native land. It means that hospitals and health care providers are violating an important principle of ethics: Autonomy. On the other hand, hospitals are unable to provide them health care because they don't have insurance, and they have limited resources coming in from the government and insurers. In addition, if undocumented patients have no right to be here in this country, they should not have the right to benefits. The article clearly states that these undocumented patients have three choices: use emergency rooms, move to another state or leave the country. It means that clinics are not going to treat them equally as US citizens due to limited resources. However, clinics let them use emergency rooms because it is enforced by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor (EMTALA) Act.
If we go to the west side of Detroit, we can see many illegal immigrants who work hard in undesirable jobs with low wages, who care for their families and who try to pursue the American dream. The majority of the illegal immigrants are from Mexico. There is a saying that Mexicans are very strong and are ready to do any kind of jobs, specifically work known as the three Ds: dangerous, dirty, and difficult. This is a well- known fact that these people have been used for many dangerous works such as building and road construction, and mine and coal plants. The unseen truth is that their free medical care has degraded and closed some of America's finest emergency medical facilities and caused hospital bankruptcies: more than 90 hospitals are closing their doors in California. As reported in the article,
"Last year, a hospital in Chicago, Illinois, was planning to discharge an undocumented patient to Mexico, but he died while his family fought to prevent the deportation. A Stuart, Florida, hospital sent an illegal immigrant who had brain damage back to Guatemala after the man racked up $2 million in unpaid medical bills. A Florida jury vindicated the hospital for its actions in July. Medical repatriations are happening because hospitals bear the financial burden for uncompensated care, said one expert" (Park, M. 2009).
Who benefits from illegal immigrants? First among the beneficiaries of illegal immigrants is American Business. Mexican workers are not only ready to take jobs at lower wages than Americans, but they are also the best workers in the world, and hence offer great economic benefit. Similarly, they are very useful for middle class citizens; these efficient workers do house chores including cleanings.
As a bad impact to the society, illegal immigrants cause crimes and spread contagious diseases such as AIDS, TB and swine flu. Drug abuse, alcoholism, and prostitution are most prevalent among many of the illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration is also a factor in unemployment throughout US. The hospitals and clinics are closing and going to close their doors because of providing free medical care for them. Under these circumstances: lack of insurance and limited resources, hospitals and clinics are not able to provide adequate health care to them which is a significant number of population of the society. If they are admitted for emergency room, hospitals and clinics will provide health care which in turn directly affects to US insurance companies and governmental agencies. It also highly effects to the legal system because they are undocumented patients and hospitals and clinics don't have enough resources to spend for them. Hospitals are forcing them go back to their home land where they are going to die due to unavailability of advanced medical technology. It means that hospitals and health care providers are violating their own ethical and moral obligation. As it is mentioned in International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights article no-6 that, every human being has the right to life. This right shall protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life (Reichert, 2006 p.85). However, the hospitals and health care providers are not respecting the patient's right to life and patient's right (autonomy) to get treated equally.
Regardless of color, sex, race, and residency status, these hospitals and health care providers should provide them adequate health care. It is because these people have right to life, and it is because they are humans as others and they supposed to get treated equally. Hospitals are neither a place for politics nor a place for debate. It is totally isolated and clean organization where patients go to save their lives. Hospitals and health care providers should follow every single principle of ethics and respect all patients' rights, and provide them health care. The foremost job of health care providers is to save all these lives. There are a significant number of illegal immigrants throughout US, and these people are also a part of the society. They came here illegally, but they are serving this country. They are paying taxes and follow the rules and regulations, so the government should take a legal action to save these lives.
References
National Association of Social Workers (1999). Code of ethics. NASW Press, Washington, DC.
Reichert, E. (2006) Understanding human rights: an exercise book. Sage publication, London.
Park, M. (2009, September 22). Undocumented patients wary of offers to return to home countries. CNN Health. Retrieved from: http://articles.cnn.com/2009-09-22/health/illegal.immigrants.healthcare_1_illegal-immigrants-undocumented-patients-medical-transfers?_s=PM:HEALTH
Words by Karun
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Written on 2011-01-21 at 03:16
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