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Photo: Obama for America — California
by Fernando Almaraz
Editor’s Note: This story is published in We’Ced Youth Magazine Issue #3
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama in 2010, is designed to make health insurance more affordable for low-income Americans. However, it does not grant undocumented immigrants access to taxpayer-funded subsidies or credits to buy health insurance through exchanges. The relevant section of the law, also known as Obamacare, is Section 1312 (f)(3) of the act, which reads:
“Access limited to lawful residents. If an individual is not, or is not reasonably expected to be for the entire period for which enrollment is sought, a citizen or national of the United States or an alien lawfully present in the United States, the individual shall not be treated as a qualified individual and may not be covered under a qualified health plan in the individual market that is offered through an Exchange.”
What this basically means is that undocumented immigrants will not be covered through Obamacare. Obamacare will only be available to legal residents and citizens of the United States.
According to Jennifer Mockus, from the Central California Alliance for Health in Merced, Obamacare aims to, “allow people to get established with a medical home, by people understanding that getting good preventative care could help them from developing chronic health conditions.” But to a group of almost 2.6 million undocumented Californians, who live in the shadows, access to preventive care will not be an option.
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What this basically means is that undocumented immigrants will not be covered through Obamacare. Obamacare will only be available to legal residents and citizens of the United States.
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An undocumented immigrant named Jose stated, “some people agree to the programs and others don’t, but as long as it is for the better of the community I see it as a good thing.” Jose currently does not have health insurance and the only type of insurance in his job, applies only for emergencies. The head of a family of five, his kids are covered by Medi-Cal. Jose has mostly gotten information about Obamacare through conversation with friends and other people.
