(Jorge) Mariscal moved from Mexico to the U.S. when he was 1 year old. Now as a 24-year-old graphic-design student, he considers it his home.He says he nearly returned to Mexico after doctors said he wouldn't be able to receive a kidney transplant in the U.S. because he is undocumented.
Since he came here when he was 1 it is obvious someone brought him. Why has he lived here for 23 years without ever registering?
Why did he stay here vs. going to Mexico for his surgery?As an illegal immigrant, Jorge Mariscal waited eight years for a kidney transplant he feared would never come.After years of uncertainties, Mariscal said he's excited about his future and grateful for the help he received. But he remains frustrated with a health care system that he worries might leave out an untold number of illegal immigrants in need of lifesaving treatments."Why can't we be treated the same?" he asked while sitting in his hospital room. "Health care should be a human right, not a privilege. At least give us the chance to fight for our lives with dignity."
Why can't you get a job with benefits that will pay for your medical needs? Why is it OUR collective responsibility to pay for YOUR health care?
Where is the dignity in demanding that someone else pay for your care?
Mariscal's treatment is far from over. The pills he'll need to make sure his body doesn't reject the new organ can cost upward of $10,000 a year for the rest of his life. And paying for those, just like the surgery, is complicated by his immigration status.He applied for a grant through the Simon Bolivar Foundation, a medical nonprofit, that would help cover his first year of anti-rejection pills. But without health insurance, he expects he'll have to pay for most of his medication.
In 2014 under Obamacare he will be able to purchase health insurance without restriction. I wonder if he will buy insurance then or expect the rest of us to pay for his care.
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