universal means universal

I found the last sentence of the article most shocking “If universal health insurance is a core Canadian value, we need to ensure that it is, indeed, universal.” Throughout the whole semester we have been Canada as an example of universal health care; I am surprised that it is not. Immigrants and refugees are a vulnerable population; they should not be punished for residing in a new country. I do agree there should be a probation period where they have to wait until they become a legal resident, but not months or years to find that they are denied health care. Barriers, such as identifying documents or income should not be a reason to turn them away. This only complicates their lives, especially health, of new-comers. Ignoring their need for health care only makes them and their future generations sicker- by not receiving prenatal health care and care for their children. This also affects the country indirectly because they are now living on their land; even if the country may not like it, the immigrants and refugees are now one of them. Canadian government can help reduce this disparity by granting immigrants and refugees some type of coverage, subsidized coverage for those who can’t afford health care, faster administration periods to speed up the waiting periods, and provide emergency care for them. In the end, immigrants and refugees are still human, and like all humans, they deserve health care.

Hm, Immigrants+Uninsured= No Health Insurance

I guess yeah, that's what it comes down to. Which government is willing to cover you? Every government somehow has a vested interest in its own citizens because they have to take care of their own well-being and "kind." However, for example, Canada will give "professionals" more of a chance to attain their national health insurance. That, is something that is not fair in my own opinion. Since when is health based on your ability to give back to society?

Vulnerable populations are vulnerable for a reason--they can't get the care they need, yet they are the most in need, it's absolutely unbelievable. There has to be a way for all the nations of the world to congregate to come up with a joint act to treat immigrants in a way that is fair, or else these issues will forever be perpetuated through time. In a utopian society, all sovereign nations would take care of their health care systems in an effective and efficient way, so that no matter where one goes to, they will be covered at least minimally.

There is no real answer for this kind of issue, and even if there are any answers, it's an iffy one at that.

Refugees, jobless Americans, and a second chance

There are two points I need to mention. Reading the article, I see a similarity between the refugees who seek medical care and those people in the U.S who are sick but lose their health insurance when they become jobless. Both groups can not get medical care at the time that they need it most. So the argument is the same. From the humanitarian perspective, both groups, and in fact all groups, are deserving for getting medical care.

For explaining my second point, I should repeat the argument that is used against the "undeserved". Some claim that it is their fault that they are sick, and the society does not have to take care of them; and that if they tried harder, they could've avoided the bad situation. Well, then I must say that the followers of this argument do not believe in second chances, surprisingly. And that's surprising because for example in our society, we get second chances for almost everything. From dropping classes to returning merchandize, we get second chances everyday. But we don't get it for an important thing such as life-quality. So if some blame those people for putting themselves in such bad positions, they could at least believe in giving them a second chance. And a second chance for improving one's quality of life could never be real without the most basic need provided, which is health.

why the loophole in universal insurance

My concern is that, if there is universal insurance in Canada, why is there a loophole for these legal immigrants and refugees? I think it’s different if they are illegal because then we can blame or understand if they are sent back to their native countries for example but since the government of Canada allowed for these immigrants and refugees to stay, why have they been neglected? Why do they have wait for health care. It is indeed not fair on this population to lack health insurance, and it’s true the Canadian government needs to put in place resources and infrastructure but does that mean there should be delay care and assess. What happen to free assess to health care and why is the gap to antenatal care for example so great to this population? Why hasn’t the government plan for the provision of health care for these vulnerable populations? It is necessary to have health facilities and free assess to care for this population if there are allowed in to live legally in Canada.

I agree with the writers in the article to research more on this population for the government of Canada to see the need to provide better health services for this population.

When a country such as Canada provides universal health insurance it need to provide universal health insurance and not allow discrimination among its vulnerable population as the problem there today.

Universal Problems

I was also most struck by how familiar some of the issues described in the article seemed. Its ironic that one of the major arguments against universal health care in this country is the idea that we will be paying for illegal immigrants to get health coverage, when in the countries with socialized care, some legal immigrants are denied access!
I was also struck by how this seems to be a universal problem, it doesn't seem that any country has really come up with a viable solution. Its the same problem everywhere. Nothing is free. The crux of this issue comes down to the idea of whether or not the access to health care is a universal human right, and the fact that no matter what we say or think, health care is rationed because it has a cost. Rationing has to provide the functioning, law-abiding members of society with their care over those who are illegal or not participating in society, or else there is no incentive to participate in society. This argument clearly breaks down when talking about the working/contributing disenfranchised who are just unable to to become one of the "haves" instead of a "have-not". Of course, it also brings up the idea of how each country deals with immigrants and refugees, whether the policies of that country protect them, or criminalize them, adding a degree of complexity and some policy issues to the table.
It seems to be a theme in our discussions and readings that health care is interconnected with the core values of society, which is why a complete overhaul of health care would require fundamental shifts in our core beliefs, our immigration policy, our tax structure and our legal system. It starts to look like a tall order.

To cross or not to cross ....the border...

Immigrants are already a vulnerable population and for them to enter a foreign country they have so many things to deal with. Health care should be the least of their worries. Everyone deserves a chance to succeed and in their vulnerable times, I think we should be honored that they chose our country to join. I do think that they add a stress to the country as a whole though. We dont know what their health conditions are and if they are contagious or possibly bringing a new disease to our country. We dont know if they need medical help yet. But they shouldnt be excluded. The Canadian government might need a few pointers at this point. Im not sure of the details but I am aware that people from the US do go to Canada for some medical treatments. I am not happy with the US "health care system" if thats what you want to call it right now. So I think many US citizens travel to Canada for treatments. But what if everyone just ran away to Canada from the US? How would this affect their system? The Canadian government should be more strict, yet still accept immigrants. They should have some type of "list or checkpoint" to determine who belongs to their country for record purposes but they should also provide health care to all. I dunno, health care is just something that is so important because it can affect several people in the vicinity of one sick person. Its like helping one sick person for the benefit of the whole. Think about it, because the flu is contagious, etc.

The immigrants and refugees population probably needs more health care services than general population and the numbers of this vulnerable population are actually growing everyday. The most challenging problem will be the impact on economic; lacking of insurance not only affect the immigrants and refugees population’s economic status, but also alter the whole nation’s economic patterns. The government has to spend more money on health care for the growing immigrants and refugees population, and that also cause each individual in Canada has to share the growing risk and spending; ultimately, the increasing of health care budget will actually impact the whole nation. If it’s possible, maybe the Canada government could try to start some program like delivering non-profit health care for the immigrants and refugees population at the public clinics and hospitals for a short period of time before they are approved by the universal health care system, then they don’t have to worry about the cost of getting the health care without insurance; and the government could also provide some benefits for the medical provider who volunteer in the program. It might not be the best solution, but it still might be an alternative plan to deal with the present situation.