Chinese media: New immigrants to the United States with low income and no status dare not seek medical treatment

Chinese media: New immigrants with low income and no status dare not seek medical treatment. China News Service, March 26 (Xinhua) The United States' "World Journal" recently published an article saying that people who are busy with work, have low income and...

China News Service, March 26 (Xinhua) The American "World Journal" recently published an article stating that many new immigrants to the United States are afraid of going to the hospital because of their busy work, low income, and fear of exposure of their undocumented status. They can only endure their physical discomfort, which will bring serious consequences. Ms. Lai, 69, has a monthly income of less than 1,000 U.S. dollars. She suffers from floaters and has been wearing ill-fitting glasses for a year. She has to endure it in order to save money. Mr. Lai went to a free health screening event held in Sunset Park on the 24th and was finally treated by a doctor and received a new pair of glasses.

The free health screening was jointly organized by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), MetroPlus and Amphs, attracting more than a hundred people that day. Ms. Lai, one of the patients, came to the United States alone from Guangzhou, China eight years ago. Due to the language barrier, she could only work in nursing. She said that although she could support her physically, she was not respected mentally and could only earn about 100 yuan a month.

A year ago, Ms. Lai discovered that black spots appeared in front of her eyes. Although it did not affect her walking, her vision was extremely unclear. At first she didn't notice it, but it got worse. Due to my busy work schedule and the need for money to see a doctor, I could only put off my illness. During the examination that day, she said she could only see the first two lines on the eye chart. After the doctor diagnosed her, in addition to making an appointment for follow-up treatment, he also said that he would get a new pair of glasses for her free of charge. She was very happy about this, "A pair of glasses costs more than 100 yuan, so how can I afford to buy them myself?"

Chen Allen also came to inspect on the same day. She said that after moving to the United States from Shanghai six years ago to work hard, she made a living by looking after other people's children. She, who is undocumented, said that she had not had any physical examination in six years because she was worried about the cost of medical treatment and being asked about her immigration status. Recently, she saw the information about free health screening because she felt hot flashes and other uncomfortable physical conditions and came here specially.

Mr. Liu, the Asian market event planner of City Health Insurance Plan, said that in order to make a living, new immigrants often ignore health concerns and do not go to the hospital for treatment until serious illnesses are discovered. It is often too late. Mimi Zhang of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said that Sunset Park has the highest tuberculosis rate in the city, but people in the area are not interested in health inspections. "I was handing out leaflets on the street for half an hour that day, and only two passers-by were willing to accept them." She called on new immigrants to actively participate in health examinations to avoid tragedies.