Illegal Aliens Have the Right to Healthcare

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Recommended: Should illegal immigrants be allowed health care

Everyday people are sent to the hospital. Not only are they in fear of losing their life but also in fear of being in debt due to the prices of health care treatment they need. But what if this patient happens to be an illegal alien? What if the patient has a foreign illness that needs to be cured so it does not spread? Should healthcare providers continue to provide (s) he with treatment even if they cannot pay? Or should illegal aliens be treated just like any other patients by having a right to health care?

Illegal aliens are net consumers of public services and they contribute to economic growth (Immigrants’ Economic Contributions, 2009). Since 1990, immigrants have contributed to job growth in three main ways: They fill an increasing share of jobs overall, they take jobs in labor-scarce regions, and they fill the types of jobs native workers often shun. The foreign-born make up only 15.6 percent of the U.S. population and 23.9 percent of the labor force (The Foreign-Born Labor Force in the United States, 2009).When you do the math, it makes a good deal of sense to spend the little that we do—if not more—to keep them healthy (Karvounis, 2007). Care for undocumented immigrants represents a tiny fraction of the nation’s health care burden. They receive minimal care; some pay taxes. Between one half and three quarters of undocumented immigrants pay taxes and some work “off the books” jobs as well (What Immigration Reform Could Mean to the US Economy, 2009). Illegal aliens provide as much as 7 billion dollars a year to the Social Security Fund although they cannot claim benefits for this program (Immigrants’ Economic Contribution, 2009). Further still, undocumented workers pay sales taxes where applicable and property taxes—...

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... News of the Day Blog. AAPS - Association of American Physicians & Surgeons. Retrieved from http://www.aapsonline.org/newsoftheday/001018

11. Few illegal immigrants are denied social security benefit. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.tscl.org/NewContent/102725.asp

12. Kirchick, J. (2008). Open the Gate | Hoover Institution. Hoover Institution. Retrieved from http://www.hoover.org/publications/policy-review/article/5756

13. Bungay, F. (2010). Open Borders. Adam Smith Institute - the free-market think tank. Retrieved from http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/international/open-borders/

14. Forman, W. (2010). Open Borders « Commentarius. Retrieved from http://www.commentarius.org/?tag=open-borders

15. Hilda Solis on Immigration. (2006). OnTheIssues.org - Candidates on the Issues. Retrieved from

http://www.ontheissues.org/CA/Hilda_Solis_Immigration.htm

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