NAKASEC Reflections on the Passage of Major Health Reform Legislation

Contacts:

Hemi Kim, NAKASEC, 202. 339. 9318
Sohn Sik, KRCC, 773.588.9158
Dae Joong Yoon, KRC, 323. 937. 3718

On March 23, 2010 President Barack Obama signed a landmark health reform law HR 3590, the Patient Protection & Affordability Act, and followed-up with the first improvement to it today via HR 4872, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 to overhaul America’s health care system.

The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) and its affiliates, the Korean American Resource & Cultural Center of Chicago and the Korean Resource Center of Los Angeles have been visible and vocal participants in the health reform debate for the past year. Our participation was a calling from the disproportionately high percentage of uninsured Korean Americans – more than other Asian American ethnic groups, and higher than other racial groups. Because of language barriers, the high rate of economic dependence on small business ownership, and immigration status, Korean Americans are well positioned to see the nexus of America’s health system in its failure to address the needs of ordinary working Americans.

It has certainly been a long and difficult journey. We began in the summer of 2008 with “America’s Future Starts with Healthy Children” campaign seeking the reauthorization and expansion of the State Childrens Health Insurance Program. Several thousand petitions along with high level and consistent legislative visits were punctuated with a successful art exhibit in Washington DC during the pinnacle of the fight. In 2009, President Obama signed the Childrens Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009, preserving coverage for millions of children, increasing health access for up to 4 million additional children and creating the renewed sense of hope for what could be achieved in the larger battle for comprehensive health reform.

While NAKASEC and affiliates publicly supported the policy provisions outlined by the larger healthcare movement, as an organization representing low income immigrant and communities of color, our interest and focus was on increasing immigrant access to health care and eliminating health disparities. Significant events towards this included Unity in Movement, a mobilization of about 300 people from 29 states on September 17, the publication of a survey of immigrant small businesses  in Koreatown, Los Angeles which identified the critical need for a public option and immigrant access to health care, gathering over 7,300 petitions in two weeks in support of the inclusion of immigrants in health reform legislation, and the November 23rd health care rally in San Francisco with a parallel direct action at the office of the inflammatory Representative Joe Wilson.

Health reform was a driving priority for our organizations. As small as we are, we dedicated much of our resources and hope to ensuring access for all Americans.

A Victory that is Bittersweet

There is no denying the monumental nature of the new health reform law. It will provide health insurance coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans, it is designed to prevent people from being denied coverage due to preexisting conditions, significantly expand Medicaid for people who earn the least income, close the Medicare Part D donut hole for seniors, create options for individuals in each state to purchase affordable coverage, and provide tax breaks to small businesses that want to purchase health insurance for their workers. For this, we applaud all those who made it happen, from individual Americans and advocates to lawmakers and President Obama.

We also know that specific exclusionary policies were crafted to deny access to care for undocumented immigrants, to continue making low-income legal immigrants wait 5 years before being eligible for federally-funded Medicaid, and to put in place onerous verification requirements to apparently seal access against intrusion; contrary to the underlying theory of health insurance that more people sharing risk together would lower costs and improve health status. Similarly, with the new bill, it is women, not men who will find themselves on guard against policies in their states that create more excuses for health systems to deny care based on reproductive health organs that only exist in women’s bodies. Preventing federal funds to be used for reproductive health services is not gender neutral policy.

Health Care for All IS Good for America

From one community member, we are told: “It feels as if we embraced Americans as a whole for their healthcare needs, but Americans did not embrace us back.” We as progressives or health advocates need to step back and examine how American discourse failed to help significant pockets of communities in great need. Without directly bashing immigrants and people of color, certain groups were scapegoated in an attempt to undermine the larger health reform effort. Our soft hand was not enough to counter these attacks and establish immigrant and health equity into law.

In recent days, the destructive discourse and hate-filled nature of anti healthcare reformists is being exposed for what it is. We are reminded once again that no battle is ever about the issue itself but also about power. Claiming victim status and vulnerability, it was largely people who have health insurance who sought to keep more people from gaining coverage. It is truly a sad state of affairs when anti-health care reformists are all too willing to give large insurance companies undue credit while opposing reforms that would serve a wider public by providing working individuals and small businesses tax breaks and affordable premiums.

Political agitators of hate and narrow individualism missed an opportunity by neglecting to comprehend that including everyone is good for America. Our hope is that one day the anti-reformists will be on our side, calling on the President and Congress to do more to serve the general public, and to do less to weigh in on the side of corporations and laws that have historically harmed our communities.

With this mindset, we recognize the importance of the health reform bill’s passage into law. NAKASEC and our affiliates are committed to working to ensure that reforms are implemented in a way that does achieve the goal of providing quality affordable health care for as many Americans as possible. We will also press on to achieve universal health systems that will allow anyone to confidently seek medical care in America.

By Eric Ward

Reposted from www.imagine2050.net

Rosa Parks was well respected in Montgomery’s segregated world of black and white. Nearly fifty-five years ago today she chose to represent those who faced the daily indignities of being treated as a second class citizen by refusing to give her bus seat up to a white passenger. To be clear, the struggle to secure full civil and human rights continues to exist today.

Discrimination continues to deny many equal access to employment, housing, education, and health care—opportunities no person should be unfairly denied. It is clear that what made a defiant Rosa Parks successful was a movement which had come to realize that no one, from the most powerful clergy to the lowliest sharecropper, could be left behind.

Immigrants fighting for human dignity reached a similar understanding on November 23, 2009. Led by The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), immigrant communities came together in San Francisco and Washington D.C. to expose the unequal treatment of immigrants in proposed federal health reform bills. Leading up to November 23, over 6,000 petitions were signed in support.

Rather than a distraction, the Rosa Parks struggle against segregation in Montgomery, Alabama was a crucial stepping stone in securing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Immigration Reform Act of 1965. These distinct laws form the pillars of modern civil rights – each one crucial in its own right.

The fight to ensure the inclusion of immigrants in health care reform should be seen in the same light. It is one photo in the larger collage that is immigrant rights. Simply put, immigration reform won’t help immigrants see a doctor when they are sick.

Already legal immigrants face a five-year waiting period to apply for Medicaid. The proposed Senate bill irrationally denies undocumented immigrants from purchasing insurance at full cost (without subsidies) with their own money through the newly created exchanges.

If this doesn’t make sense, it’s because bigotry never does. Excluding documented and undocumented immigrants from health care reform ends up costing the system more money. Preventive care – rather than expensive trips to the emergency room – would save taxpayers’ money in the long run, despite the ill wishes of anti-immigrant zealots.

In the days to come we would do well to heed the lesson taught to us by Mrs. Parks and those she symbolized. The time has come to confront the racism and insert some common humanity back into health reform.

Originally posted at New American Media

Would it be acceptable if we were to make medical care out of reach for any segment of our nation’s population? For the 15.5 million Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders? Or for the 44.3 million Latinos? Let’s hope not. But, as it stands, our growing acceptance is paving the road for health reform proposals that categorically exclude our nation’s immigrant population. We forget that when people like Lou Dobbs or Rep. Joe Wilson are enraged about “immigrants” they are talking largely about communities of color. Americans know it is wrong to discriminate based on immutable characteristics such as sex or race—but convincing them to protect the act of being an immigrant remains a challenge that cuts across social justice issues such as health reform.

The days are nearing when we may see the passage of major health reform legislation. We know that there are significant differences between the House and Senate bills on how immigrants are treated — for example, in the House bill, undocumented immigrants are able to purchase health insurance with their own money in the exchange while they will be excluded from doing so in the Senate. There are also common problems with both bills: the continued ban on federal funding for legal immigrants in Medicaid who have had their status for less than five years.

Currently, legal immigrants, who work and pay taxes that contribute to our health care system will continue to be ineligible to receive federally-funded Medicaid services for five years. In this case, we are not talking about those who make at least 133 percent of federal poverty level and could access affordability credits like everyone else for purchasing insurance in the exchange. We are talking about immigrants with the lowest incomes. It is unreasonable and saddening that under the current health reform proposals, the people who really need it will not get it.

This August we saw indignant crowds who largely had health insurance opposing the ability for more Americans to be insured. The indignation should also be coming from immigrant communities. And it is rising now. In the last two weeks, more than 6,000 people from Washington State to Washington, D.C. signed petitions demanding that immigrants be treated fairly by repealing the five year waiting period and enabling undocumented immigrants to purchase insurance.

On Monday, November 23, hundreds of people in California and Washington, D.C. stood up for immigrants in health reform in two distinct actions to highlight the best and the worst that there is in the national debate concerning how we as Americans treat immigrants. The rally and vigil outside of Speaker Pelosi’s office, and the confrontation with Rep. Joe Wilson’s staff are actions that drew not only longtime health advocates, but also people who realized that this complicated health care issue is intimately about them and could result in the exclusion of their friends, families, and colleagues.

Communities across America are waking up to this realization and Congress needs to take notice. In San Francisco, a group of Chinese American tenants gathered over 1,000 signatures in just two days, for example. A strong and diverse coalition of local and national community organizations from health advocates to immigrant rights organizations to Asian American and Pacific Islander community groups came together, because the call for equity in health reform needs to be louder.

Contacts:
L. Sookyung Oh, 202-567-1397 (English)
Yongho Kim, 323-244-5309 (Korean, Spanish)

Making Room for Everyone at the Health Reform Table
Immigrant Communities Urge Speaker Pelosi to Stand Strong for Inclusive Health Reform

(Washington, D.C.) Today, immigrant communities staged two events in San Francisco, CA and Washington, D.C. to draw attention to how millions of Americans are being shut out of health reform, despite their undisputed contributions to supporting this country’s economy and public health care systems.

Organized by the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) and its two affiliates, the Korean Resource Center (KRC) in Los Angeles and the Korean American Resource & Cultural Center (KRCC) in Chicago, nearly 250 people attended the health care rally in San Francisco in front of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and 40 people participated in a direct action at Representative Joe Wilson’s D.C. office.

“Increasing access to care for immigrant communities reduces net costs by increasing primary prevention and reducing the emphasis on emergency care for preventable conditions. Further, the cost of health insurance within the exchanges will be that much higher if people are prevented from contributing to pooled risk. Unfortunately, the Senate bill released last week falls far short of the House bill with regards to immigrant inclusion. Once again, immigrants continue to become the scapegoats and, if not corrected, this will result in a poisoning of the health care debate and the blocking of the real progress Americans need,” stated EunSook Lee, executive director of NAKASEC. “Speaker Nancy Pelosi demonstrated pivotal leadership by standing strong against pressure from both sides of the aisle and the White House to exclude people from health reform. Today we are here in San Francisco representing millions of people in this country in support of health reform and urging her to remain strong.”

Leading up to today’s actions, community and faith organizations collected 6,340 petitions from across the country in less than two weeks. These petitions were delivered to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the White House, and other key members of Congress.

“What we want is simple: everyone living and working hard in this country must have full access to affordable health insurance. It is disappointing and frankly unbelievable that legal immigrants have to wait five years for public health care and that the Senate seeks to deny undocumented immigrants ability to purchase with their own money health insurance through the exchanges,” stated Dae Joong Yoon, executive director of KRC.

In San Francisco, a bus from Los Angeles, CA of mostly Korean American immigrant seniors made the 8-hour bus trip. Youth and parents from Chinatown to San Jose carried placards reading “I want to be healthy” and “Five years to wait will be too late” and rallied around chants like “Hey hey, ho ho, 5 year bar has got to go!” Traditional Korean percussion also punctuated this positive and lively health care rally.

“We are here for action, not inaction,” stated Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. “We are tired of obstructionist anti-immigrant attacks and want to part of new and vibrant solutions to our nation’s problems.”

That same day, a small contingent of community members and staff from CASA de Maryland and NAKASEC organized a direct action in Representative Joe Wilson’s office in Washington, D.C.

“Rep. Joe Wilson symbolizes the worst of anti-immigrant rhetoric as he advocates for policies that exclude the most vulnerable and those with the least income from being able to seek and pay for their fair share for quality, affordable medical treatment. What we need is health care, not hate,” stated Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA de Maryland.

Videos of events can be accessed at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4tJBQzO3jg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3586u-ddux0
http://www.youtube.com/krclaorg#p/u/0/6B5VqN-2ud0

Photos of events can be accessed at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nakasec/sets/72157622740348599/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/krcla/sets/72157622864841494/detail/

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NAKASEC is a national organization founded in 1994 by local Korean American community organizations to project a national progressive voice and promote the full civic participation of Korean Americans as part of a greater goal of building a national movement for social change.  Based in Los Angeles, NAKASEC opened a D.C. office in fall 2008 and has affiliates in L.A. (KRC) and Chicago (KRCC).

Endorsing organizations: National Korean American Service & Education Consortium,  Korean Resource Center, Korean American Resource & Cultural Center, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Asian Health Services, Asian Law Caucus, Asian Pacific American Legal Center, CASA de Maryland, California Immigrant Policy Center, California Partnership, Chinatown Community Development Center, Chinese for Affirmative Action, Chinese Progressive Association, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles, Having Our Say, Idaho Community Action Network, Korean Community Center of the East Bay, Make the Road New York, New York Immigration Coalition, National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association, Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, One America, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, Rural Organizing Project, Service Employees International Union Local 721, Service, Immigrants Rights, & Education Network, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, Washington Community Action Network

Posted 11/16/2009

The fate of the public option may still be up in the air in the national health care reform debate that continues in Congress, but there is no uncertainly about where the issue stands among L.A.’s Korean-American business community.

A survey released last week by the [National] Korean American Service & Education Consortium indicates that 92 percent of Korean-American small business owners support a public health insurance option in health care reform.

Their support is bolstered not only by the hardships that immigrant small business owners often have in affording health coverage for themselves, their families and employees, but also their largely positive experience in using the single-payer health system of South Korea.

“There are many wonderful things about America, but I am very dissatisfied with how health care is handled here,” said Jon Ran Kim, whose husband is establishing an import-export business in Koreatown. The Kims’ previous business, an acupuncture clinic, attracted many fellow immigrant entrepreneurs who could not afford insurance.

Around 52 percent of respondents said that they were uninsured, while 30 percent said that none of their dependents has health care coverage. Respondents with at least some insurance paid an average of $1,820 per year for medical expenses. The foremost reason for respondents not obtaining coverage was cost.

The survey, funded by the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, was modeled after a national survey conducted earlier this year by the advocacy group Main Street Alliance.

Key findings include:

• 52 percent of the respondents did not have health insurance, and 96 percent were immigrants who had been living in the United States an average 18 years.
• 92 percent of respondents supported the public option.
• 72 percent of respondents supported removing the five-year bar for legal immigrants in publicly-funded programs such as Medicaid, Medicare and Children’s Health Insurance Program.

When asked what their top three issues within health reform were, they stated (in order of popularity): 1) removal of the five-year bar on Medicaid to include legal immigrants, 2) expansion of Medicaid for all children and pregnant women regardless of immigration status and 3) ensuring that more people are covered to reduce health costs for all.
- 70 percent of respondents said they believed that their business would be more productive if they had access to coverage for themselves and their employees.

Click here to read the report.

Korean American Resource & Cultural Center (KRCC), 6146 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60659, Contact: Sik Sohn, 773-588-9158, sohnsik@chicagokrcc.org

NAKASEC, 900 S. Crenshaw Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90019, Contact: Olivia Park, 323-937-3703, opark@nakasec.org and Hemi Kim, 202-339-9318, hkim@nakasec.org

Online petition also available in English and Korean.

Korean American Resource & Cultural Center (KRCC), 6146 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL 60659, Contact: Sik Sohn, 773-588-9158, sohnsik@chicagokrcc.org

NAKASEC, 900 S. Crenshaw Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90019, Contact: Olivia Park, 323-937-3703, opark@nakasec.org and Hemi Kim, 202-339-9318, hkim@nakasec.org

올해 주요 의료 개혁 법안 결정 과정이 급속히 진행되고 있습니다. 그러나 지금까지 이러한 법안들에서 이민자를 배제하고 이민자 혜택 관련 편견 된 반응에 대해 민족학교와 시카고한인교육문화마당집, 미주한인봉사교육단체협의회는 실망을 금치 않을 수 없습니다. 이에 저희는 메디케이드 (메디칼로 알려져 있음)와 같은 저소득층 의료 혜택을 받기 위해 영주권자들이 5년 이상을 기다려야 하는 조항을 없애고 모든 사람들을 위한 의료 개혁 달성을 위해 노력하고 있습니다. 현 시기는 지금까지 논의되어 온 법안들을 강화하도록 촉구하고 잠재적인 반이민 수정조항 및 이민 자 공격에 강력하게 반대해야 하는 중요한 시점입니다. 우리는 하나되어 우리의 목소리를 높여야 합니다. 미국을 보다 건강하고 인도적인 나라로 만들어 내는 것이 우리 손에 달렸습니다!

의료 개혁을 통해 미 건강 보험 시장에서 공공 의료 플랜을 구입할 수 있도록 하여 미국에 거주하는 사람이면 누구나 저렴한 가격에 의료 혜택을 누릴 수 있어야 합니다. 여러분께서 생각하시는 것처럼 , 이민 신분에 상관없이 세금을 내는 모든 사람들이 의료 시스템에 참여하도록 하여 스스로의 건강에 대한 적절한 판단을 내릴수 있도록 해야 합니다.

저희는 영주권자 5년 대기 기간 폐지 활동을 비롯하여, 단결과 조화, 정의, 인권이라는 우리의 가치를 현실에서 실현 되도록 노력 할 것 입니다.

• 11월 23일 샌프란시스코 시에 위치한 낸시 펠로시 하원의장 사무실 앞에서 집회 행사를 갖고, 모든 이민자들이 동등하게 대우받을 수 있도록 하원의장이 지도력을 발휘해 줄것을 촉구할 것입니다. 행사는 추수감사절 연휴와 맞물려, 미국이라는 나라의 식사 테이블에서 이민자를 배제시키지 말라는 메세지를 전달할 것입니다.
• 우리 커뮤니티 구성원들은 서명운동을 진행하여 이를 해리 리드 상원 원내대표, 낸시 펠로시 하원의장, 버락 오바마 대통령에게 전달할 것입니다. 서명 양식을 첨부하였으니, 반드시 참여 부탁 드립니다. 온라인 서명양식은 http://nakasec.org/blog/wp-content/files/2009/11/PetitionKoreanFINAL.pdf 에서 다운로드 받으실 수 있습니다.

저희는 11월 23일, 낸시 펠로시 하원의장 샌프란시스코 사무실 방문 시 그 때까지 모은 수천 장의 서명을 전달할 예정입니다. 여러분께서도 부디 이 자리에 함께 해 주시길 부탁 드립니다.

진정한 의료 개혁을 달성하기 위한 저희 활동에 함께 동참해 주시길 부탁드립니다. 자료 및 활동에 대한 문의는 박양희 ypark67@krcla.org (323.937.3718), 박지은 opark@nakasec.org (323-937-3703 x209)에게 연락 바랍니다.

감사합니다.

민족학교, 시카고한인교육문화마당집, 미주한인봉사교육단체협의회 실무진 일동 드림