October 29, 2008
Who pays for the care of illegal immigrants?
A recent latimes.com story chronicles the disparity in access to health care for some illegal immigrants.
The kidney failed when [Marguerita Toribio] briefly moved to North Carolina, which refused to pay for her anti-rejection drugs. She needed to go back on dialysis three days a week to clear toxins from her blood, but North Carolina didn't cover that either.
The best a social worker could offer was a prepaid plane ticket back to California.
Health services and other benefits available to illegal immigrants can vary by the state. Welfare, prenatal care or in-state college tuition might be available in one place and inaccessible across a state line.
Many states draw the line at illegal immigrants. But officials in California, New York and a few other states figure that not treating patients whose kidneys are failing costs more.
That is because patients without regular dialysis frequently end up in emergency rooms, on the brink of death. At that point, federal law requires that they receive dialysis until they are stable enough to be released -- usually only to deteriorate again within weeks and return to the ER.
Be sure to read the full article over at latimes.com.
Posted by Staff at 08:30 AM
Category: Dialysis; Health Disparities; Health Inequities; Immigrant Health