As you already know, many people in the USA have difficulty affording medical treatment. There are two general possible solutions to this problem: either make healthcare more affordable, or give people the money to afford treatment. Hospitals have already been bringing in immigrants from other countries (mostly from the Philippines or India) who are willing to be trained and work for lower wages. Obviously there are different types of immigration, and some immigrants are increasing the cost of medical treatment by overburdening emergency rooms. But this thread will focus on immigrants that work in hospitals. Perhaps one of the reason that immigrants are being brought in is that is difficult to find people willing to receive training or go through medical school, then recieve low or relatively modest wages to work under stressful work conditions. Most hospitals are located in more populated areas with higher costs of rent/housing. So perhaps the real cost of medical treatment is the higher wages that have to be paid to nurses so that they can afford a place to live. Nurses in lower cost-of-living areas are willing to work for less. Indeed the "shortage" of low-paid healthcare workers seems to be concentrated in the high-cost-of-living cities, while just the opposite phenomena is observed with physicians. So if a skilled/educated person is not willing to work in a city because they do not feel they would be able to afford a decent place to live, should the wages be higher? Or should immigrants be brought in to do the work?
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=34477 http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jun2009/db20090619_970033.htm http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060426/health/health1.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-145357/We-need-action-low-pay-says-nurse.html http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/abinaz...go-to-medical-school-a-gleefully-biased-rant/ The hospitals it seems just want to overwork their employees and pay them low wages. Then they say there is a "shortage" of workers. But the hospitals are intentionally not hiring enough workers just to keep profits higher. This can clearly be seen in nursing homes.
It is irrelevant what we think wages should be, the market should be able price the wages accordingly, if american people are unwilling to receive lower wages because of high living costs in the neighborhood, the same should be happening to immigrants.
But immigration shifts the market price. Workers born in your country usually demand a premium in wages for having to get all that extra training, and working under stressful working conditions. People born in other countries with lower standards of living (the Phillipines and India) are willing get the training and work for much less, and since they are more desperate for a job they are often willing to put up with poor working conditions.
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't vouch for someone because of his nationality. If people from those countries wished to come here to work almost for free, I would not oppose them, means more money to spend on other stuff for me. Besides, they are also people, and thus they have desires and will look for the best ways to fulfill them. Nonetheless, natives have an advantage in the labour market since they have no communication problems and (probably) know their countries better, unlike foreigners.
