Bases off research and interviews about Oakland’s insurance a plethora of undocumented immigrants don’t have insurance because they are excluded, unauthorized, and low-income. Undocumented immigrants often are low-income and cannot afford insurance. For example in an article titled, Health Coverage and Care for Undocumented Immigrants by Joseph Hayes, Laura Hill, Shannon McMville, and Iwunze Ugo talked about ObamaCare or ACA and people with insurance and how the mortality rate has gone down . Also how ACA expanded itself so low income people can receive it too. The article stated,” Even so, about one million low- income Adults and some children were ineligible because they are undocumented immigrants. For the 60 to 70 percent s of undocumented immigrants who lack insurance, health care options are limited” ( Hayes et al.) Since one million immigrants don’t have insurance it shows how the Oakland community doesn’t take care of its own people. This is a problem because a myriad of undocumented immigrants make a generous amount of Oakland. Another reason that this is a problem is because people who work without insurance can procure a break a bone or they can get sick. Further evidence of this is an interview done 12/4/19 said by Rodrigo Ortiz talked about insurance, how long he lived without it. Also now since he has insurance what type does he have. Ortiz explained, “Living without insurance is harmful because if you get hurt and go to the doctors you have to pay a lot. Also since I worked in construction, I can get hurt easily if I’m not careful.” (Ortiz) By him stating that it’s difficult living without insurance that means that people have to be extra careful when doing jobs because one can hurt themselves and have to pay many bills over 3,000 dollars. It’s important to have insurance because if someone hurts themselves they won’t have to pay $3,000 or more dollars in Oakland.
In addition, undocumented immigrants aren’t receiving insurance because they are excluded and unauthorized. For example in an article named UC Berkeley Labor Center by Laurel Lucia discusses about broadening health coverage for low income undocumented adults and how if they receive insurance it can cover a gap in the health care system. Lucia illistarts, “Undocumented adults are mostly left out of California’s health insurance system and make up the largest group of uninsured in the state”. ( Lucia) Since undocumented immigrants are being left out of the health care system, this leads back to the idea of the community not involving the undocumented immigrants. Also, people need to involve the others around them and not leave anyone out. Finally, the community have to come to consensus and give undocumented immigrants insurance. For example, in the article Immigration and Public Health: An Issue Brief by Alameda County Public Health Department talked about how the health department in Alameda County helps anyone with whatever background. Also that there are many immigrants who have lived here their whole life or more than 17 years. Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD) explains that the ACPHD helps anyone no matter their race or their background, so they can live a long healthy life. ( Alameda County ). By Alameda County helping anyone of any race it’s comments that the community should be able to that too. Also that they should never judge a book by its cover because in realty they are all the same inside and outside.
In conclusion the research has proven that undocumented immigrants are left out of health insurance because they are unathourized and low-income. Like how the paragraphs talked about above people need to change the way we think and give people the insurance they deserve. We need to stop judging people by their race and who we think they are and start thinking without a bias. Although people in Oakland may come from different backgrounds they need to start putting others before themselves. Why are insurances still excluding undoumented immigrants?
Annotated Bibliography
Alameda County, Public Health Department. “Immigration and Public Health: An Issue Brief .” Acphd, July 2017, .org.This article is about how the health department in Alameda County helps anyone with whatever background. Also that there are many immigrants who have lived here their whole life or more than 17 years.This evidence passes the craap test because it was published in 2017, in the end of this article it leads to more relatable sources other people can look at. The purpose of this article was to inform people about immigrants and people of color and how the Alameda County Health helps everybody.
Gasson, Kristina. “Who Is an Undocumented Immigrant?” Www.nolo.com, Nolo, 20 Jan. 2017, www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/who-is-undocumented-immigrant.html.
This article was about how immigrants are aliens and terrorists. Also about how people have to not call them that and use proper terms. This article is credible because it has an author and when it was published.
Hoffman, Jan. “Jan Hoffman.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/by/jan-hoffman.
This article was about that some undocumented immigrants are not allowed to get insurance at all. This article is also about why people don’t have insurance in Oakland. This source is credible because it has the authors name and the date is was published. This souce is credible because it answered a specific question.
Lucia, Laurel. “Towards Universal Health Coverage: Expanding Medi-Cal to Low-Income Undocumented Adults .” Center for Labor Research and Education, 10 Sept. 2019, laborcenter.berkeley.edu/medi-cal-undocumented-adults/. This article discusses about broadening health covrage for low income undocumented adults and how if they obtain insurance it can cover a gap in the health care system. Also how undocumented immigrants are mostly left out of the insurances. This source passes the craap test because it’s purpose is to educate since it comes from the university. Also leads to other reliable sources/articles. This is a credible source one can use because since it has an author the date it was published it also answered the question that wanted to be answered.
McConville, Shannon, et al. “Health Coverage and Care for Undocumented Immigrants.” Public Policy Institute of California, Nov. 2015, www.ppic.org/publication/health-coverage-and-care-for-undocumented-immigrants/.
This article talks about ObamaCare or ACA.and people with insurance and how the mortality rate has gown down. Also how ACA expand itself so low income people can obtain it too. This evidence passes the craap test because it leads to other sources. Has pie charts, graphs, and statics that are all after 2012. Also has the names of all the authors.
Pena, Esmeralda, and Rodrigo Ortiz. “Health Insurance Interview.” 4 Dec. 2019.In this interview Rodrigo talked about insurance, how long he lived without it. Also now since he has insurance what type he has. This interview was also about what is the difference between having and not having insurance. He passes the craap test because he is giving evidence about himself and the insurance. He also current because he gave me this information December 4th. He has also lived here 23 years so he saw the changes in Oakland.
Dear Esmeralda
Dear Esmeralda
I am a student at SJSU. I agree with you on how undocumented people must be qualified for healthcare insurance. As you mentioned about the construction worker, I realized there is a good amount of undocumented people who works at heavy-duty jobs such as construction. It is very risky for these people to get hurt easily, and they have to pay a lot of money to see a doctor without having insurance. You provided excellent examples that happen in our everyday life and other people’s lives. I hope someday the government will take this issue into action and provide for their well-being. Thank you for bringing up this problem.
Hey Esmeralda, I clicked your piece because I thought it was an interesting piece about how life without insurance would be. Before I make any more comments, I think the title needs to be adjusted to specifically mention undocumented people. I was looking for a diverse perspective, but I was slightly shocked to find that you only addressed the concerns of undocumented individuals. However, back to the piece, I really enjoyed the points you were making because you cite evidence, legislation, and people’s individual experiences. It is clear that you put effort into this piece. I think the personal narrative of Ortiz was especially strong because it reminds the reader that health isn’t just about money and begins to create an emotional connection. One of my favorite parts about your piece was that you brought in an example of a real life solution that is utilized in the Alameda County. It is really important to show readers that a doable solution exists and works. After reading that example, I was intrigued and began to wonder what could happen if the same amount of care was provided for undocumented individuals in Oakland. My biggest issue with this piece was just the title. If you changed the title to include undocumented individuals, you would have had an amazing piece. Another thing to consider is to incorporate statistics about how often people become injured. Doing so can add a new dimension into the piece that shows the reader that injuries are common and can seriously damage someone’s livelihood.
Hello Esmeralda 🙂
Thank you for bringing up this important issue that many seem to ignore! Yes, a large amount of undocumented immigrants lack healthcare services and the few that do, are highly restricted to a small pool of choices. I loved how you wrote “Also that they should never judge a book by its cover because in realty they are all the same inside and outside” because many folks often forget this as well.
You clearly understand the topic that you have researched and can sympathize with it as well, which is a skill that many struggle with. I was wondering if you have a solution to allowing more access to healthcare in Oakland specifically. For example, if you were the mayor, what steps would you take to allocate money or resources to help this population? This is a big question, but I know you are capable of answering it ! 😀
I see what you are talking about and i agree with you because you talk about people without insurance but also undocumented people who also fall into not having insurance. You have a really strong ord and i think that if other people saw this they would also really think about it others would like to also assist you with this.
Thank you so much for reading my blog. The part of your comment that stood out to me as when you said that other people would assist me with my blog. A question I have is how would they assist me can you give details? I look forward to hearing back from you.