5 Scary Things That Happen When We DON'T Have #Health4all

This Halloween, take a look at why excluding people from health care reform has some scary consequences.

1. Obamacare is a real treat.. but not for 3-4 million Californians who may be left behind

lh3.googleusercontent.com

With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, millions will receive health coverage for the very first time. However it also leaves millions of our loved ones and neighbors behind due to obstacles like immigration status, income level, and even falling through the cracks of the open enrollment period. In California alone, an estimated 3-4 million will go uninsured.

2. It's a Ghoulish situation for those that live in the shadows

a.abcnews.go.com

Out of the millions of remaining uninsured in California, over 1 million of them will be undocumented. Due to their immigration status, they will be barred from accessing low-income health programs like Medi-Cal, or even Covered California, the state's health insurance marketplace. This puts immigrant families at risk of not receiving adequate care.

3. For mixed-status families the looming threat of an ICE monster is real

Via youtube.com

Many immigrant families have members of different statuses living all under one roof. The fear of revealing an undocumented status and being torn apart from their loved ones builds a chilling mistrust between families and public officials. This has frightening consequences; according to the 2009 CA Health Interview Survey, eligible non-citizen children are three times as likely as citizen children to go uninsured. While the feds have promised they won't use application info for enforcement (deportation) purposes, and California is also taking big steps to rein in the ICE monster, a huge amount of work remains.

4. When cutting your lip racks up a gory hospital bill more expensive than your rent

georgiabankruptcylawyersblog.com

Itzel Martinez is a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient from Oxnard, California. She had a minor accident at home that sent her to the Emergency Room to stitch her cut lip. "The hospital billed me $1,500" she said. Struggling to find a way to pay off the enormous bill on a student budget and avoid having her case sent to a collections agency, led her to endure months of stress.

5. Forget about ghosts! Beware of injuries that could cost you an arm and a leg

accidentatwork.org.uk

Undocumented immigrants are less likely to have seen a doctor in the past year than their U.S. and naturalized citizen counterparts, according to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. But when they do visit the doctor, they face high out-of-pocket costs, since over half do not have health insurance coverage. This is problematic for workers who get injured on the job, since this may cause them to make a difficult choice between providing for their families or seeking adequate medical attention.

Want to learn more about healthcare for all?

Visit the California Immigrant Policy Center's health page, www.caimmigrant.org/healthcare.html for more info on workable solutions.

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