Citizenship and Healthcare
Should a stranger be allowed to enter your home and help himself to the food you worked hard to pay for? Absolutely not. What if that same stranger came into your home, uninvited, did house work (laundry, dishes, cleaning etc.) and then ate your food? The answer would still be no, because that stranger was in your home, without your consent, and ate the food that you spent time and money to obtain. This example is not too far off from what is occurring today in our country, in regards to illegal immigrants using our healthcare system. An important issue is currently being debated in our country, its main focus being whether or not undocumented immigrants should be allowed to use health services made for legal residents. When one considers the issue, he or she can find various opinions about the moral issues regarding this situation. However, when one considers what is best for this country in terms of illegal immigrants using our healthcare system, the answer is clear. Undocumented immigrants should not be allowed to use our healthcare system. Furthermore, all physicians should check an individual’s citizenship status before providing medical care.
In order to understand why physicians must check the citizenship status of patients before providing healthcare, one must understand all of the reasons why it is wrong for undocumented immigrants to use our healthcare system. First and foremost, these individuals in question are here illegally. In order to enjoy the benefits of a country, one must be a citizen of that country. This is because members of the community make contributions, like paying taxes, military service etc. and they receive benefits, like access to public facilities and social assistance in return. These individuals are granted these benefits by their respective states, because they are citizens. In California’s proposition 187, programs like free prenatal care were offered to illegal immigrants, while increasing the amount senior citizens had to pay for medicine (Dwyer pg. 37). This example begs the question, if free prenatal care was withheld from non citizens, would extra funding be available to take care of citizens? Furthermore, one must consider what the benefit of being a citizen would be if illegal immigrants are giventhe same rights. A state provides a community for legal residents that is beneficial for both the state and its citizens. Being a citizen will have no worth if a state does not provide far more to its citizens than to strangers. Failure to provide more to citizens, will lead to the breakdown of that community (Nickel pg. 21).
The cost incurred when treating undocumented patients is also a major issue. If there is a limited public budget, costs must be shifted to provide services for undocumented immigrants (Nickel 20). If certain hospitals are given budgets and must allocate money specifically to treating undocumented workers, then that money must be taken from other areas that could have been used for the treatment of citizens. Some may argue that undocumented workers use healthcare services far less than citizens, and therefore aren’t much of a burden. However, the fact is that immigrants account for 39.5 billion dollars in health care expenditures, which could have easily been used for the betterment of other areas of our country, for its citizens (Health Care expenditures pg. 3). Some also believe that illegal immigrants contribute to society in the form of taxes and that is a good reason for them to receive healthcare. While they do pay taxes in some form or another, it is difficult to determine if the cost incurred by their medical expenses would be compensated by the small amount they pay in taxes (Nandi pg. 15). Furthermore, the taxes that are paid by citizens of the US are paid so that its citizens may utilize the benefits that come with contributing to the revenue of the state. To use the money intended for citizens on individuals who are here illegally, is a disservice to US citizens.
It is difficult to determine whether or not to provide medical care to people just because of their immigration status. On the one hand, some argue that we have a moral duty to help our fellow human beings. However, lines become blurred when helping those people takes away recourses from a country, which could have better taken care of its own citizens. A mans country has a duty to its countrymen, to provide and care for its own citizens. There should be no compromise made to cater to individuals who are in this country illegally. The owner of a home, has no duty to give his food to a stranger who wanders in and takes it. A physician must check the citizenship status of an individual, to prevent individuals from taking resources from our country.
Chavez, Leo R. "Undocumented Immigrants and Their Use of Medical Services in Orange County, California." Social Science & Medicine 74.6 (2012): 887-93. Web.
Dwyer, James. "Illegal Immigrants, Health Care, and Social Responsibility. “The Hastings Center Report 34.1 (2004): 34. Web.
Mohanty, Sarita A., Steffie Woolhandler, David U. Himmelstein, Susmita Pati, Olveen Carrasquillo, and David H. Bor. "Health Care Expenditures of Immigrants in the United States: A Nationally Representative Analysis. "Am J Public Health American Journal of Public Health 95.8 (2005): 1431-438. Web.
Nandi, Arijit, M.P.H., et al. "Access to and use of Health Services among Undocumented Mexican Immigrants in a US Urban Area." American Journal of Public Health 98.11 (2008): 2011-20. ProQuest. Web. 4 Dec. 2015.
Nickel, James W. "Should Undocumented Aliens Be Entitled to Health Care? "The Hastings Center Report 16.6 (1986): 19. Web.
Sokolec, Jeanne E. "Health Care for the Undocumented: Looking for a Rationale." Journal of Poverty 13.3 (2009): 254-65. Web.
On a budgetary standpoint, I agree with your argument that illegal immigrants should not receive free healthcare in the United States. Even though they contribute to our economy in various ways by working blue-collar jobs and some of them even pay taxes, the cost of their hospital bills are way too exorbitant for the citizens to cover. Moreover, it makes sense that citizens who have made significant contributions to their society would be compensated for it, not the ones who are staying in it through illegal means.
ReplyDeleteHowever, on a moral and ethical standpoint, it is difficult to argue that we should deny them healthcare. Even though they might be illegally residing in a country that they are not welcome in, they are still human beings. Basic human rights should be protected regardless of their citizenship status, and providing healthcare is a necessary aspect in protecting their rights as human beings. You state in your article that “the owner of a home has no duty to give his food to a stranger who wanders in and takes it.” Although there might be no duty to do so, I would choose to offer them food, if that wanderer is in dire need of sustenance. In a similar vein, even though I should have no obligations to pay for illegal immigrant’s healthcare, I would choose to do so in order to protect their human rights.