How are Immigrants Treated in the Healthcare System?

In many countries, having access to healthcare is often seen as a privilege that ensures people can receive the help they need in time. However, in the United States, it’s very expensive and filled with numerous issues, especially in the immigrant community. Hispanic individuals, in particular, face some of the biggest challenges when it comes to receiving fair and equal care, which makes it difficult for them to seek help when needed. The inequality Hispanic immigrants face in the healthcare system affects their daily lives by exposing them to false information, discrimination, limited access to treatment and financial stress. 

Growing up, I always felt ashamed of having to translate for my parents at hospitals, grocery stores, during parent-teacher conferences, etc. I always hated the feeling of entering a room and the adults always asking if we needed an interpreter; it sometimes made me feel judged, knowing that they knew our struggles. If my parents chose not to ask for an interpreter, I was left with the responsibility of having to communicate both ways and worried about making a mistake during the translations. If we did choose to ask for one, I would feel awkward sitting there, the awkward silence after my mom would tell the interpreter something, and waiting for them to find their words. However, as I grew older and as the issues with immigration grew too, I started realizing that my parents, along with every other immigrant, had no choice but to have their children help them, or else they would never understand what was happening and be taken advantage of. Whenever my parents would try to speak English, I always tried looking away, embarrassed by their accent, but it was just them trying their best to improve and learn. It’s not their fault that they had to leave their hometown and learn a new language to get better opportunities.

Discrimination is something many people face; we can’t all agree on which group is specifically more targeted because, in truth, each culture and race gets attacked and stereotyped. However, the Hispanic community has experienced multiple issues over time, and getting worse as time goes on. Being a Hispanic immigrant in the U.S has many cons due to the language barrier that is taken advantage of at schools, work, hospitals, etc. It’s such a problem that every generation has its own negative story they experienced due to racism and bias they face. There is a lack of resources and unfair treatment due to this, mainly in the healthcare system, where many Hispanic immigrants have come forward to tell their story on how they or their family members were treated differently. It has become noticeable that Hispanics have been a target of mistreatment, as many patients have reported facing discrimination. Compared to white individuals, Hispanic clients are less likely to receive AIC checks or cancer screenings, according to the School of Nursing in North Carolina. This led them to create a study back in 2017, where multiple Hispanic patients with diabetes rated their hospital experience. Unfortunately, all their stories were the same. Each patient encountered a lack of respectful communication, information, and poor-quality care. It is not stated if all 172 Hispanic adults were at the same hospital, but it’s obvious there’s a repeating cycle of doctors rushing in and out and giving their patients the wrong information that can risk their lives. A sixty-five  year old patient even stated, “I went to the cardiologist and [they] checked me out and my sugar level that the primary doctor had apparently already sent to him and the cardiologist told me “No, no everything is fine”.. I had a heart attack, and 3 or 4 days later they were operating on me.” (Amirehsani, 2017)

This experience reminded me of Amy Tan, a Chinese American author who mainly focuses on writing about identity and family. Specifically, in her essay, “Mother Tongue”, which focuses on the challenges she faced and overcame growing up with an immigrant mother who relied on her English to communicate. One part that stuck out to me when reading her essay was where her mother was also denied to see her medical results and was told it was lost, this most likely being due to her not being able to speak good English and being seen as not strong enough to fight for what she wanted. That was until she called her fluent English-speaking daughter, when they were suddenly able to find them. Discrimination from before the 1990s to now is unfortunately still the same. Even with all the Hispanic representations there are today, people still find ways to ruin their lives. There was only one positive experience during the 2017 survey at The University of North Carolina, and that was because this patient went to a clinic that was receptive to working with Hispanics. Hospitals should be a place that is accepting and nondiscriminatory because it’s a place many go to with serious issues, with unfair and false treatment, it’s not about being harassed out of your own health, but a bigger problem. 

Furthermore, no matter if the person in need is or isn’t an immigrant, they are still likely to receive less medical attention compared to U.S. citizens. These people should be treated as human beings and not patients; they need to be taken care of and treated properly. Being in a hospital with an injury surrounded by nurses and doctors walking past you without a glance is not what someone wants to experience when they have no clue what is wrong with them. In the article “The Immigrant Health Care Narrative and What It Tells Us about the U.S. Health Care System” the author Brietta R. Clark, a professor at Loyola Law School, who has loudly focused on the inequality in the Healthcare system and has helped organizations preserve access to essential healthcare services that are at risk, speaks about an undocumented man getting unfair and horrible treatment during a life or death situation. This unnamed man was part of a car accident and was rushed to the emergency room at San Diego, California, hospital with a shattered right leg and broken jaw that had to be wired shut (Clark, 2011). The reason for this is not stated, but unfortunately, the patient was transferred to a clinic in Mexico before the wires were removed, and due to poor communication and follow-ups, his gums became infected and grew over the wires in his mouth (Clark, 2011). This statement shows the unprofessionalism of these doctors for not taking care of a man and ruining his health. Due to this technically being a deportation since the hospital didn’t ask for his citizenship, it causes other Hispanic patients to feel uncomfortable and unsafe to have the same happen to them, and being sent off to a detention center, which is just as bad, with people dying because of the lack of medical care. Just because someone is stuck in a detention center does not give them the right to be treated as animals. 

Additionally, white privilege has become noticeable in healthcare and shows the major difference in care that these groups receive. White Americans don’t face systemic barriers that prevent them from living their lives and understanding the struggles most people go through due to having the ‘perfect’ look. There are white Americans who genuinely understand the issues immigrants have to face and support them, but that doesn’t take away the privilege they still have. However, immigrants have to work through several challenges to build a stable life while still facing discrimination and not feeling safe in the country they live in. In the article “The Medical Dialogue: Disentangling Differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic Whites,” the author Lorraine Wallace, a Biomedical Education & Anatomy professor at The Ohio State University, where she focuses on studies related to health insurance, health literacy, and patient experience. She analyzes a 2002 survey about patients’ experience at a doctor’s office or clinic in the past year. This survey especially compares Hispanic and White individuals. All of the non-Hispanic patients reported positive experiences. They felt listened to and taken care of, having extra time to communicate with their health provider. Hispanic patients, on the other hand, did not have any positive experiences, no friendly or supportive interactions. Some might excuse the health provider for having a bad day and acting the way they did with Hispanic patients, yet that wouldn’t explain why, in the 12 months, no Spanish-speaking patient felt happy with their visit. This is clear discrimination and shows that no matter how Hispanics act, they still get hatred due to their history and backgrounds. 

Language barriers are often the reason miscommunication happens between patients and doctors, forcing their kids to talk for them. Often, many patients are confused on how to do certain things, like understanding medical information or asking for help, and they rely on a family member who does speak English. It’s important for healthcare workers to be patient and try to figure out alternatives for their patients to understand and feel taken care of. This story isn’t about a Hispanic immigrant, but it is focused on immigrants and the struggles they face with language barriers. In the “Mother Tongue” essay written by Amy Tan and previously mentioned in the first paragraph, Amy uses her mother’s experience as an example of what doctors shouldn’t do, the doctors refused to apologize when they had apparently lost her CAT scan and showed no sympathy when she seemed anxious to know the exact diagnosis, since her husband and son had both died of brain tumors, but still they refused and tried having her make another appointment  (Tan, 1990). Dismissing a patient’s health, especially if it’s a health problem that is passed on in families, is a big issue of putting someone’s life on the line due to their mistake and ignorance. This is also a big reason why many immigrants prefer to bring their children with them so they can speak for them and get the point across smoothly and fast. It might be embarrassing having to talk for your parents when it should be the other way around. However, you start realizing the truth as you grow up, and I sure did. 

 In the article, “How a Daughter of Immigrants and First-Gen College Student Entered DO School,” the author, Kelly Bang, who is a child of immigrants and graduated from Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine, shares her story of the struggles that led her to pursue her career in medicine. Her story is very similar to mine, and she’s of Asian American descent, which shows how big the issue of language barriers is if every child of immigrant parents has the same experience. She states, “I commonly accompanied my dad to his medical visits to interpret. I remember feeling hopeless, seeing my dad weak and sick, and I also felt frustrated, not knowing how to help him. I wanted to do more.” (Bang, 2024)

Being a part of the medical field should mean having some understanding of different languages or at least taking the time to communicate with and understand the patient. An example of this is in an article called “Language Barriers to Health Care in the United States” by Glenn Flores, a medical doctor, who shared stories of miscommunication and its effect. An example of miscommunication is when a mother rushed her two-year-old daughter to the emergency room after she had hurt herself falling off her tricycle. The mother did her best to try and share that information, but “the resident misinterpreted two words, understood the fracture to have resulted from abuse, and contacted the Department of Social Services (DSS). DSS sent a worker who, without an interpreter present, had the mother sign over custody of her two children”(Flores, 2006). These people with big roles need to know more than one language so they don’t make any major mistakes that could affect someone’s life. This situation could have easily been prevented if the doctor and DSS workers had taken time to call an interpreter and translate, especially in a situation like this, where the mother had no idea what she did wrong, putting her trust on the line for the next time she has to visit the hospital.

Many Hispanic immigrants struggle to access affordable healthcare, which often leaves them with limited and unsafe options. Even with or without insurance, it is still difficult to pay off doctor visits due to their low income and having to worry about other financial responsibilities. Undocumented immigrants face an even bigger challenge; most are not eligible for insurance, which makes it even harder to seek professional help and forces them to find cheaper alternatives. Over the years, several studies, like in the “Inability to Pay for Healthcare Reaches Record High in U.S,” article, have shown the large number of individuals who have stopped paying for healthcare, most of them being Hispanic and Black Americans, “with 46% and 52%, respectively, reporting that they would be unable to afford quality healthcare…but the rate of unaffordability increased significantly among lower-income households” (Tiffany Yu 2025). These statistics have continued to rise over the years, which shows that the healthcare system isn’t providing enough help to undocumented immigrants or other low-income communities. Worrying about medical bills and having to pay those bills causes great stress and having to add that on top of other responsibilities. Delay of payment can cause delay in their own health and might have these individuals stop seeking help if it prevents them from saving up money and spending it on things they need more. 

In the end, Hispanic immigrants in the United States continue to face multiple challenges in accessing healthcare, from facing discrimination to struggling with limited access and financial stress. These inequalities they face have an impact on their daily lives. As time goes on, you start noticing the diversity many jobs are starting to have. Especially in the medical field, where more Hispanics want to start a career and make a difference. Not only Hispanics but also many other races show how much first-generation immigrants want to improve their experience and support their community.