Health care reform including migrants and other vulnerable populations

Regulations and state budget proposals increasingly tend to restrict the access of certain types of migrants to primary and secondary healthcare. The impetus to remove access to healthcare from certain migrants includes irregular migrants, some asylum seekers, and even lawful residents. First, the presenter will hint at the complexities involved in identifying who is entitled to access particular health services and public programs. Second, there is a potential risk to wider public health in denying access to sections of the population particularly in the case of infectious diseases. Third, restrictions in access to secondary care may not be cost effective if the result is a higher usage of emergency services. In the face of health care reform, is it prudent to exclude a sizable and significant portion of the population residing in the state. The workshop seeks to answer the question of how immigrant and other populations ought to be treated in a comprehensive package of health care reform.