Cancer Is Especially Dangerous for Immigrants in Texas. Here ’s Why

McALLEN, Texas — Edgar carries a red folder bulging with paperwork, bills and medical records. Before his lung cancer diagnosis in September, he had about $11,000, he said, money he was saving to purchase a used truck and to pay an immigration attorney to pursue legal residency. By February, it was gone, and Edgar was relying on friends and family to cover doctor appointments, food and other basics. His treatment had been complicated by a collapsed lung. “I’m not able to work — I’m breathing with just one lung,” said the 50-year-old painter, who asked to be identified by only his first name because he’s an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. Edgar had fallen into a black hole for treatment that extends across two South Texas border counties, a stretch with more than 1.2 million residents that’s roughly half the size of Connecticut. There are no public hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley counties of Cameron and Hidalgo, which includes the city of McAllen. In Texas, public hospitals are typically funded by a separate tax on property and provide care to indigent residents in the county where they’re located. Hidalgo County residents have recently voted against such a new property tax. Most hospitals in the region are for-profit facilities. Although a network of nonprofit clinics has developed over the years, their focus is typically primary care and not surgery, imaging or other specialized treatment. Nearly 30% of residents ...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized public health Source Type: news