Did you know that as many as 40% of South Asians under 65 report not having a regular source for health care? Or that one-third of all South Asians worldwide has diabetes? Or that 90% of LGBT respondents in a Los Angeles study reported mental health issues? These are some of the startling statistics I learned at last week’s South Asian Health Reform Town Hall co-sponsored by SAALT, theSouth Asian Law Student Association at American University’s Washington College of Law, andCounselors Helping (South) Asians/Indians. Moderated by SAALT Policy Director Priya Murthy, a panel of three health care experts told stories and shared facts about the ways that our health care system and potential legislative solutions affect South Asian and immigrant communities.
The first presenter, Dr. Lavanya Sithandanam, shared heartbreaking stories from her pediatrics practice, such as informally treating serious illnesses of (undocumented immigrant) parents when they came to her office for their (U.S. citizen) child’s appointment, or watching parents of her patients die of treatable diseases simply because they could not afford health care – despite working several jobs in order to provide better lives for their children. She further demonstrated the broken nature of our health insurance/health care system, explaining how insurance companies are making doctors’ jobs more and more difficult by not covering basic preventive health care, by making the process of applying for reimbursements more and more complicated, and by covering fewer and fewer necessary costs such as basic vaccines. And we learned that most doctors support health care reform that includes a public option.
The second presenter, Sapna Pandya, MPH, works with immigrant communities on health care issues. The information she shared focused on the ways that South Asian community members face barriers to receiving health care, including concerns about their visa status, high costs associated with doctor or hospital visits, inadequate transportation options, and limited ability to read or understand English (and let’s face it, even those of us who were practically born reading English can barely make sense of long, complicated health forms filled with medical and legal jargon). She reminded us of the range of health issues that affect our communities, from diabetes and obesity to intimate-partner violence and mental health problems including depression, loneliness, and isolation.
The panel then turned to legislative solutions being offered through House and Senate bills. Alice Dong, Health Law Policy Staff Attorney at Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), provided information about the various bills that are being debated. For the past several months, essentially since August, bills have gotten more and more immigrant-unfriendly. For example, new immigrants must wait five full years before having access to Medicaid or Medicare – this includes infants, children, and the elderly, for whom five years is an incredibly long time to wait for health care. By the time these future Americans finally have access to affordable health care, their health conditions will be far worse than if they had had continuous access from the time they arrived. For undocumented immigrants, the situation foreshadowed by legislative proposals is even more dire, even if they are willing and able to pay for their own insurance. As Alice Dong put it, “politics has taken over logic” in our current health care debates.
From hearing individual stories of difficulties in health care to learning about the extent of structural and medical health disparities, I was moved to take action. Are you? If so, there are steps you can take to get involved and make your voice heard. You can contact your members of Congress to let them know that you support health insurance reform that is affordable and accessible to all.Thursday, October 22, is National Call Day for immigrant inclusion in health reform. Please take two minutes this Thursday to call Speaker Pelosi, NY Representative Rangel, and your Representative with the following message:
“I want Congress to end the five-year waiting period for legal immigrants in Medicaid. I expect Congress to follow New York’s good example and treat legal immigrants the same as citizens in health reform. I also think health reform should include everyone, but until that happens, the safety net health care system must be protected so that people who can’t afford to buy health insurance can still get the health care they need.”
You can reach Speaker Pelosi, Representative Rangel, and your Representative by calling 202- 224-3121. To find your Representative, go to http://www.house.gov/ and enter your zip code.
There are other ways you can get involved: you can join town halls and rallies in your local area; you can write an op-ed sharing your views on health reform; or you can share your own health care story with organizations such as AAJC that are working to collect and disseminate stories about health care issues and difficulties to Congress. And finally, make sure to stay informed and spread the word: you can find updated health reform fact sheets and other resources on SAALT’s website, www.saalt.org.
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