Without Health Care Reform Blacks and Hispanics Likely to be Biggest Losers

In a primetime news conference last night, President Obama appealed directly to the American public in an attempt to rally support around his effort to get Congress to pass major health care reform legislation.  Six months into his presidency, Obama is fighting to keep his campaign promise of a major overhaul amongst increasing obstacles including concerns raised by members of his own party.  The president has declared this issue to be crucial to America’s long-term fiscal health emphasizing that, “health insurance reform is central to that effort.”

However, as the timeline for the legislative process increases, the prospect for success, some argue, decreases.  Without health care reform, the greatest losers, according to one analyst, will be those who are already struggling – Blacks and Hispanics.  While these two groups account for about 30 per cent of the US population, they comprise one half of the nearly 50 million uninsured in this country according to the Commonwealth Fund.

For more than half of a century, policy makers have been struggling with how to close the gap between racial and ethnic minorities and Whites in our national health care system.  Unfortunately, the gap has not only persisted but grown.  In addition to lacking health coverage, Blacks and Hispanics are, according to a study by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, more likely to suffer from “catastrophic illness and disease, and are much less likely to obtain basic drugs, tests, preventive screenings and surgeries. They are more likely to recover slower from illness, and they die much younger.”

Added to this is the issue of how to provide care to the nation’s undocumented population. Earlier in the week when asked by Katie Couric in a CBS news interview if illegal immigrants should receive health care, Obama answered “no.”  However, he added, “The one exception that I think has to be discussed is how we are treating children. Partly because if you’ve got children who may be here illegally but are still in playgrounds or at schools, and potentially are passing on illnesses and communicable diseases, that aren’t getting vaccinated, that I think is a situation where you may have to make an exception.”

The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that an estimated 9.7 million of the uninsured are non-citizens.

Both the Democratic leadership in Congress and the President have signaled that they are willing to negotiate with Republicans to reach a deal.  What that means for those most in need of this critical reform remains to be seen.

TimesOnline

Washington Post

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