By Marinee Zavala

Six community clinics in San Diego, Riverside, and Imperial counties will receive funding that would help provide health insurance to children regardless of immigration status.
Federal and California State agencies have awarded $1.5 million in grants which will improve the social welfare of currently uninsured immigrants, as well as to thousands of American low-income families.
This financial support comes from two sources: $500,000 from Covered California – the state’s health exchange – and $1 million from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). According to members of Health Center Partners, the funding will help meet the needs of thousands of people who, because they lack citizenship, are suffering the consequences of not having access to healthcare in San Diego.
“We know that families of all races have trouble accessing quality healthcare at affordable prices, as well as to doctors they trust; now we know these opportunities are available,” said Vernita E. Todd, Senior Vice-President for External Affairs at Health Center Partners.
One of the most serious issues faced by thousands of people is the high cost of medical insurance making it unaffordable to families. According to state statistics, 37.2 percent of Hispanics in San Diego apply for free government-provided insurance, and 57.2 percent of the people seeking care at community health clinics declare being Hispanic or Latino.
For undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., fear of deportation has been a significant factor that either makes healthcare options incredibly expensive or makes them unattainable.
“Things are difficult for someone without an immigration status; they constantly worry about how their name will be used, whether their information will be used appropriately, whether people are really going to do what they said they would do,” continued Todd. “What happens at place like this one, here at the La Maestra Center, is that they already have a relationship and are able to trust the workers they’re with.”
La Maestra Community Health Center, San Ysidro Health Center, Vista Community Clinic, Neighborhood Healthcare, North County Health Services, and San Diego Family Care are the six recipients of these funds, which will enable community members to come and undergo a process that the authorities say could take several appointments with the family, but that could lead to free healthcare for those that end up qualifying after meeting all the necessary requirements. What is important is to take advantage of these funds to acquire services that by right should be granted to a population that for decades has suffered from receiving very basic health services, “because in the state of California you can get medical care regardless of immigration status and regardless of race, gender, or sex,” stated Health Center Partners spokesperson Jose Gonzales.
Now that San Diego has these funds, and in light of the impending increases to health insurance in California, which have already gone up 13.2 percent on average, legislators feel positive about bills such as AB 10, which would provide an additional opportunity for immigrants to have access to healthcare regardless of immigration status. These new bills would expand access to quality health care beyond just immigrant children to include adults with no immigration status who are currently excluded from programs such as Covered California, based on a Federal waiver that would allow immigrant communities to buy health plans in the Covered California health exchange.
For more information, please visit one of the six community clinics in San Diego, or visit: www.hqpsocal.org