[28 July 2009 by Sharmeen Gangat, WMC] For reform to work, argues the author, it must fully include immigrant communities, whose members already struggle to afford decent medical care in the United States.

President Obama’s healthcare plan is promising. Yet, it draws concerns from the immigrant community.

[...] Ever since welfare reform was enacted in the mid-nineties, newly arriving immigrant families must wait five years for federal health benefits under Medicaid, the chief provider of health insurance to immigrant women. While immigrant women may access emergency services pertinent to labor and childbirth, there are no provisions for prenatal and postpartum care and family planning services, which are financed by their tax dollars.

Click here to read the whole article.