Nobody should be forced to decide between getting life-saving care or going into serious debt. That’s why healthcare for all – regardless of immigration status – saves lives. We learned during the COVID pandemic that none of us are safe unless all of us are safe. But is healthcare for all possible?
Yes, it is! On Wednesday, February 19 at 6 pm, join the online forum Winning Healthcare for All to hear from advocates from California and Oregon about how they made healthcare for all a reality. Don’t miss these insights about how we can win healthcare for all in Ontario.
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Healthcare for undocumented people is possible
Just last year, organizers won healthcare access for California’s 700,000 undocumented residents. This isn’t the first time healthcare access was won for uninsured people. States like Oregon and Minnesota also expanded access to undocumented people recently. Countries like Norway, Spain and Thailand have also strengthened the overall health of their people by ensuring equal healthcare access to migrants living or working within their borders.
Ontario is about to face a humanitarian crisis
COVID made it clear that the health of whole communities requires that no one be left behind. That’s why during the pandemic, Ontario had a program that allowed undocumented migrants and international students to access full care in hospitals.
But Premier Ford’s government cut this program in March 2023. This left uninsured people to make life-and-death decisions about whether to avoid seeking care or to go into thousands of dollars of debt by visiting a hospital.
When access for uninsured people ended, it got much worse than it was before the pandemic. In the article “When a Hospital Visit Costs $11,000” released last week, The Local reported that “Some hospitals seemed to be charging uninsured clients whatever they wanted for things like triage or hospital beds—much more than they ever had before COVID.” Midwife Manavi Handa summed up the stark situation: “I really think we need to realize we’re about to go into a humanitarian crisis.”
It’s urgent that we come together to win universal healthcare, regardless of immigration status. Join the forum to see how you can be part of the movement.
Winning Healthcare for All: Lessons from U.S. victories for inclusive healthcare policies, regardless of immigration status
Wednesday February 19, 2025 | Time: 6:00 – 7:30 PM ET
Meet the panel:
Ana Álvarez leads the Health4All campaign that advocates to remove immigration status as a barrier to accessing health care in California. Health Access California is California’s lead health consumer advocacy coalition.
Olivia Quiroz is the Executive Director for the Oregon Latino Health Coalition (OLHC), a statewide organization dedicated to eliminating health disparities affecting Oregon Latinas and Latinos through collaboration, policy and advocacy. Under Olivia’s leadership OLHC passed historical legislation to expand medicaid coverage to adults regardless of their immigration status.
Dr. Shazeen Suleman is a pediatrician and member of the Decent Work and Health Network, a group of health workers and trainees advocating for better health by addressing working and employment conditions in Ontario.