Speech #870275655

Neither these States nor the local communities can take care of the health requirements of the large number of men. women. and children who are there only temporarily and then move on to other places to work. Their facilities and personnel are designed for local residents. and are not equipped to take care of the additional load. Furthermore. these facilities and services are not available at times when the migrants can use them. or in places which are easily accessible to them. Migrants are also frequently ineligible because of residence restrictions which prohibit or limit the rendering of public services to these individuals although they are available to other citizens. Those services which have been made available to migrants are scattered. uncoordinated. and inadequate. with little provision for continuity of care. The migrant farmworkers and their families are in the lowest economic group of our population. and they are less able to pay for their health care than most people. although their need for it is greater. Their substandard living and Working conditions make them more vulnerable to sickness and accidents. and they do not receive preventive attention. such as innoculations and prenatal care. that most people can take for granted. Because of this. and because they often do not receive medical care for an illness until it has become quite serious. they are more likely to need hospitalization. frequently as emergency cases. Since they can rarely pay for their care. unpaid hospital and medical bills of migrant workers have become a matter of concern for hospitals in rural areas and for the communities as well. The fact that many of the migrant workers. although they are American citizens. do not speak English. and often do not understand or appreciate health and sanitation requirements aggravates the difficulties. The imperative need for a health program for our domestic migrant agricultural workers is more apparent by contrast with the provisions made for health services for foreign migrant agricultural workers who come to the United States temporarily to work on our farms. Over 300.000 workers enter the country each year from Mexico and the British West Indies. and they are protected by contracts which guarantee them medical care and accident insurance. Both of these groups. the domestic and the foreign agricultural workers. are required by our economy.