The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was created to help people get health care, but many people still do not have access to it. Even though it was supposed to help everyone, minorities and immigrants are still being treated unfairly in the health care system. The ACA shows how laws can say they help people, but in reality they do not help everyone equally.

In the article by Tiffany D. Joseph and Helen B. Marrow, they explain that Medicaid expansion was optional for states. Because of this, states with more immigrants and minorities did not choose to expand it. The article states, “because Medicaid expansion was optional… health care access improvements under the ACA were geographically stratified” (Joseph & Marrow, 2017). This means that some states had better health care than others. If someone lived in a state that did not expand Medicaid, they were less likely to get help. This is unfair because health care should not depend on where someone lives.

Another issue with the ACA is that it promised universal coverage but did not actually give it to everyone. Joseph and Marrow also explain that many immigrants and minorities are still left without insurance. This shows that the ACA did not fully do what it said it would do. Even though it helped some people, others were ignored. Immigrants especially were not included the same way as U.S. citizens.

Discrimination in health care became worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the article by Damle et al. (2022), Latina immigrant women talked about being afraid to go to the hospital. One woman said she felt ashamed and scared asking for help. Another woman said undocumented people were not treated as important as American citizens. This shows that immigrants were afraid of the health care system and felt like they did not belong. Because of this, many people did not get the care they needed.

Children of immigrants also face problems in the health care system. An article about immigrant households in New York City shows that children of immigrant parents were more likely to be uninsured. Even though children should be protected, they are still affected by their parents’ immigration status. This can cause children to receive less care or no care at all. This shows another way the system treats immigrant families unfairly.

The PBS Newshour segment about racial bias in health care also shows discrimination. The report said that many workers believe non-English-speaking patients do not get the same care as English-speaking patients. Language barriers make it harder for immigrants to explain their problems or ask questions. This causes them to be treated differently or ignored.

Overall, these sources show that the health care system in the United States is unfair to immigrants and minorities. Even with the Affordable Care Act, many people still struggle to get care. Discrimination, language barriers, and unequal policies all contribute to these problems. The ACA helped some people, but it did not fix the deeper issues in the health care system.