PERSPECTIVES 5April 1, 2010 � Mount Holyoke News

After much of what looked like haggling overthe lives and health of Americans, and evenmore nuanced amendments to appease a bipar-tisan voting pool, Congress passed a universalhealth care bill that received mixed reviews. “Auniversal health care? What universal healthcare?” is the reaction one might expect from inter-national students studying in the U.S.

Perhaps the greatest number of skeptics, after Re-publicans and illegal immigrants, are those studyingabroad in the States. Under the previous health care sys-tem, schools provided many international students withmedical insurance that covered aspects such as “men-tal health” and “sports benefits.” Yet foreign stu-dents remained uninsured in terms of othermore prevalent health problems, includ-ing eye care, dental care and emergencyproblems.Will the brand new universalhealth care bill promise a better treat-ment of international students?

So far, the coverage cost for an in-ternational student's eye care, den-tal care and urgent problems canquickly reach hundreds, eventhousands, of dollars. “I had totake out a loan to cover mydental care bills,” said HopeMbabazi ’11, originally fromZimbabwe. “A loan for myteeth. It’s kind of ridiculous,”she added. Several others ad-mitted having attempted toprivately deal with health is-sues rather than face the ex-pensive medical attentionprovided by professionals.

Because health insurancein college is mandatory, stu-dents have to rely on the cov-erage provided by the school, orget a waiver, with amounts to$50,000 per injury and/or preg-nancy. International studentsare also not allowed to acceptpublic benefits such as Medi-caid. Host families, friendsand resident relatives can-not transfer emergencyMedicaid funds to meet thestudent’s medical costs.Students who run afoul ofthese laws may evenhave their F-1 visas re-voked or experiencetrouble with visa re-newals.

So what bene-fits can internationalstudents expect from themuch trumpeted universal health care bill? Not many, apparently. On thequestion of non-citizens, President Obama appealed to the discretion andhumaneness of medical teams and staff in hospitals or emergency rooms toattend to patients. After all, he cajoled, they do get out there and interactwith Americans—not much incentive for medics transfixed on their capital-ist economy and the market driven, profit maximizing business that healthcare has become.

It is easy to see how a revised health care system could improve the livesof Americans in the future, but without clauses directly addressing the sit-uation of legal aliens, such as international students, this group can’t expectto benefit from an official passage of a universal health care bill.

President Obama’s proposed health care bill was passed just last weekin Congress, and is now well on its way to being made law in the UnitedStates. Yet withmuch of the restrictive legislation still in place, internationalstudents cannot expect to enjoymuch respite from the relentless sponge thatmedical care costs have become.

BY LAURA TURYATEMBA ’11STAFF WRITER

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND THE HEALTH CARE BILL

International students planning careers in health care weighthe future of their pursuits as the politicians on Capitol Hilldebate over the health care reform bill that was passed onMarch 21. Abena Kwaa ’12 and Asinath Rusibamayila ’10 shedsome light on how this bill could affect their future careerpaths.

AABBEENNAA KKWWAAAA ’’1122BBIIOOLLOOGGYY MMAAJJOORR AANNDD AA PPRREE--MMEEDD SSTTUUDDEENNTT

QQ:: WWhhaatt ddoo yyoouu kknnooww aabboouutt tthhee hheeaalltthh ccaarree rreeffoorrmm??A: The idea I get from it is that it would be reducing health carecosts for Americans.

QQ:: WWhhaatt wwaass yyoouurr rreeaaccttiioonn ttoo tthhee rreeffoorrmm??A: I feel indifferent about this bill because I am not Amer-

ican and did not have a say in the reforms that wereproposed. Nonetheless, I feel this bill is an im-

portant step towards reforming the Ameri-can health care system.

Q: AAss aa pprree--mmeedd ssttuuddeenntt,, hhaavvee yyoouutthhoouugghhtt aabboouutt tthhee wwaayyss tthhiiss bbiillllccoouulldd iinnfflluueennccee yyoouurr ccaarreeeerrppaatthh??A: My ideology is thathealthcare should be ac-cessible and affordablefor all. Whether this billhad passed or not, Iwould still want to offermedical services at asubsidized cost. If it hasnot passed by the time Iam a medical doctor, analternative would be es-tablishing a privatepractice that can affordto treat patients at re-ally reduced rates. Sincethe central focus of thisbill is to help Americansreduce the costs ofhealthcare, I am in sup-port of this because italigns with my personalview that everyone de-serves affordable health-

care. Even if Democratsshould have strings attached by pass-

ing this bill, it’s still for the satisfaction ofthe greater population.

AASSIINNAATTHH RRUUSSIIBBAAMMAAYYIILLAA ’’1100SPECIAL MAJOR IN GLOBAL HEALTH AND

STATISTICS

QQ:: WWhhaatt ddoo yyoouu kknnooww aabboouutt tthhee nneeww hheeaalltthhccaarree bbiillll??A: Personally, I do not know a lot about it but I

have read many comments online that speak out against this bill.

QQ:: BBaasseedd oonn wwhhaatt yyoouu kknnooww,, wwhhaatt aarree yyoouurr ooppiinniioonnss aabboouutt tthhee ccoonntteenntt ooff tthhiiss bbiillll??A: My focus on this bill has been sex education. I am concerned that abstinence-until-marriage programs still got $250 million on a five-year course in funding while comprehensivesex education programs, inclusive of contraception education, got only $75 million.

QQ:: CCoouulldd yyoouu eellaabboorraattee oonn tthhiiss,, pplleeaassee??A: During the Bush administration, a lot of funding went towards these nationwide absti-nence—only programs in schools. Statistics have revealed that these programs did not workand contribute to the rise in teen pregnancies in America. During the debate of Obama’s pro-posed healthcare bill, there were attempts to remove funding from these programs and sup-port more effective and comprehensive sex education programs.

QQ:: HHooww wwoouulldd tthhiiss bbiillll aaffffeecctt yyoouurr ccaarreeeerr ppaatthh iinn iinntteerrnnaattiioonnaall hheeaalltthh?? A: This healthcare bill is supposed to be a major source of funding for different healthcare ini-tiatives. If I were to pursue a public health career in America, I would want to work with a pro-gram that advocates for the use of contraceptive methods. If these programs were betterfunded in the bill, it would be more in line with my support for a better youth sex education pro-gram. I am confident about the effectiveness of these comprehensive programs and would sug-gest they should be age appropriate for students. The people who teach these programs shouldalso be well trained. Therefore, funding should go specifically towards that training.

Will the reform affectyour medical career?

PREPARED BY TEMITOPE OJO ’10 & EMILY CHOW ’12

International students left outof health care bill