PUBLISHED: 09-08-08

Scoop in the Loop

Illegal or not, we all need health care

When I was in seventh grade, I thought my life was over. I entered a drawing contest and I won a trip to Switzerland. It was all expenses paid and a whole week without my parents in a completely different world. It was a dream come true.

My tears of joy soon became tears of sorrow and confusion. Although I came to this country from Mexico when I was 3 years old, I had been living in this country as an illegal immigrant. Therefore, if I were to leave the country on that trip, there would be no way for me to come back with the rest of the group.

I didn’t know how to tell my teachers and friends. I was afraid something would happen to me and my family, so I didn’t go on the trip. Although this happened years ago and I have since become a legal resident, immigration is something that still affects me. My situation was not a life and death one, but many immigration stories out there are.

On Aug. 26, Francisco Pantaleon died in the University of Illinois Medical Center. According to the Chicago Tribune, he was 30 years old, a father of two, worked at a car wash, had no health insurance and had been living in the country illegally for 11 years.

Pantaleon suffered a severe brain hemorrhage in July and had been in a coma for a month. Although this isn’t the first case where immigration and health services have become an issue, his death has brought awareness to how the system handlessituations like his.

According to the Chicago Tribune, hospitals are committed to stabilize patients in emergency cases. Pantaleon’s family fought against the decision made by the hospital to send him back to Mexico. They feared Pantaleon was not in a healthy state to be transferred or that he would not receive the same medical treatment in Mexico as he would here.

The Chicago Tribune article also said, “With the exception of pregnant women, some children and people in medical emergencies, illegal immigrants generally have no right to health care in the U.S. Long-term health care is not guaranteed even if the patients are U.S. citizens.”

His family is now asking for the investigation to go further and see if negligence had something to do with his death because many things remain unclear.

What could have possibly stopped the doctors from telling the family that he was near death?

Pantaleon’s story might just help us realize the need for better health insurance for everyone. How many people actually die at home without seeking medical attention because they don’t have health insurance?

As far as having health insurance for illegal immigrants, I don’t see anything happening at all. The health care system has a lot of flaws and needs improvement. Until then, more people will suffer, citizens or not. In a country where people from all over the world enter with hopes and dreams, there has to be a better way to deal with these types of situations

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