title: Immigration and health care reform: shared struggles.
abstract: The connection between health care and immigration share overlaping key areas in policy reform. General concern, anger, and fear about immigration has been spreading nationwide. While illegal immigrants' use of expensive emergency department services does add to the cost for uncompensated care, this expenditure is not a primary cost driver but more a symptom of little or no access to preventative or primary health care. As a result of federal inaction, more state politicians are redefining how America copes with illegal residents including how or whether they have access to health care. The overlap of immigration and health care reform offers an opportunity for us to enter the next round of debate from a more informed vantage point.
authors.affiliation: Workforce Planning and Development, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Gardner
mesh_terms: D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D024802:Nurse's Role; D011057:Politics; D012935:Social Justice; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States; D035862:Vulnerable Populations