‘Health care is a human right’
When I arrived to the United States as a 13-year-old, the first thing I remember is my uncle telling me “try to not get sick. The doctor is expensive here.”
Connecticut denies undocumented immigrants access to health care — we’re excluded from HUSKY Medicaid, Medicare, the Access Health CT state exchange, and often denied by private insurance. But you can’t control when you get hurt or sick.
As an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador living in Danbury, I’ve experienced this first-hand. We have to find home remedies for our pain and illnesses, all the while knowing it can get worse.
Health care is a human right — no one should live in pain or die because of their immigration status. Our legislators seem to understand this basic fact.
Last year,
Connecticut expanded access to the
HUSKY health program to kids
12 years old and under.
My brother, who is 12 and undocumented, was able to enroll in
HUSKY after the new law went into effect Jan. 1.
This has been such a relief for me.
As an older sister, I want my brother to be safe. He’s a very active kid, he likes to go outside, he plays sports, he takes karate lessons. Now I know if he gets injured, he can go see a doctor. Some of my concern for his safety is gone and I’m more confident in him participating in sports.
But we can’t stop at ensuring just kids can have care. Although my brother was able to enroll in HUSKY this year due to the new law, as a 22-year-old I have been left out, and so has my mother. Sickness or injury doesn’t stop at 12 or at 18. We need health care too.
Right now, I travel to a community clinic in New York state to get care. I’ve needed to get a physical and tests because I’m anemic, but I’ve been denied appointments or have had to wait over four months.
My mother was in a car accident last year, and her first concern was not if she was injured, but what the bill would be if she saw a doctor. It shouldn’t be this way. If you need to get medical treatment, you should be able to get it. But right now, it’s like the state of Connecticut decides for immigrants what kind of care we can get. I know our legislators wouldn’t like us telling them they couldn’t get health care because of who they are.
I need our legislators to listen to our needs and expand access to HUSKY to all income eligible residents, regardless of immigration status or age. Myself, my mother, my friends, my community — we are all worthy of living healthy lives. Our legislators must act and expand HUSKY to our immigrant community. Not doing so would be immoral.
Connecticut denies undocumented immigrants access to health care — we’re excluded from HUSKY Medicaid, Medicare, the Access Health CT state exchange, and often denied by private insurance.