Health care and looking on the bright side of things

Graciela Barrios, an undocumented immigrant, has long relied on her Sacramento County health clinic for the advice, medication and tests that keep her diabetes under control.

But next month, Barrios and thousands like her will be on their own as communities cut nonemergency health services to illegal immigrants and more local governments are forced to make similar decisions. Nearby Contra Costa County will vote tomorrow on whether to cut services to the 5,000 illegal immigrants they serve each year.

Data on health care for unauthorized immigrants are hard to come by because community clinics and hospitals usually do not ask patients for their immigration status. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that of the 11.9 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, about 59 percent have no health insurance. That accounts for about 15 percent of the nation's approximately 47 million uninsured.

You know, Big Media always has to look on the darker side of things. Not us. You all know we’re glass-is-half-full types so we just turn around that paragraph above and read it as: 41 percent of f@#$-ing illegal immigrants have health insurance. Wow. We feel a lot better now.

The rest of the article goes on about how the economy has forced clinics to close, caused layoffs and which has resulted also in a drastic cutback in services.

I have no insurance, no resources, nothing to fall back on,” said Barrios, who has one daughter. “I have no idea what I will do.”

The all-around good will and decency that we try to practice at this site forbids us from offering a very simple suggestion to Ms. Barrios.

Apples: A health care industry managed by the government and totally dependent on tax revenue and which will cut back on services provided if tax revenues dry up in an economic downturn.

Exit question: How do you like them Apples?

This is a cause and effect phenomena of universal health care which we had not thought about before but which we now see playing out in real time and which provides one more reason to get onboard and quit being so divisive.