"Champion-in-Chief" or "Deporter-in-Chief": National Dentist Day, Obamacare, Deportation and Immigration Reform
Braces, tooth implantation, root canal treatment, and dental surgery to provide proper shape to teeth is important to overall health; as well as the endorsement of decay prevention through ongoing actions such as daily flossing, brushing, and dental checkups. March 6 is heeded nationwide as "National Dentist Day," a day where patrons are to say "Thank you" to their dentist.
Yet, while seminars and workshops about dental health improvement are made available in some communities, Latinos, by-and-large, are not clued in on seminars and services regarding dental health, and many continue to function without dental or healthcare to correct existing dental problems.
According to the Obama administration, of the 10.2 million Latinos who are uninsured, about 8.1 million would qualify for Medicaid, CHIP or tax credits to purchase coverage. The Affordable Care Act, which now has a March 31 deadline, continues to encourage Latinos to enroll. Question-and-answer sessions have even been organized too by the Asegúrate campaign, and major Spanish-language media outlets, including Univision and Telemundo, to market the Health Insurance Marketplace to Latinos.
"In the African American community, unfortunately, one in five of us are not insured, and the numbers are no better in the Hispanic community," Michelle Obama recently said. "And you all know what that means: It's that people are going without treatment for diabetes, they aren't getting the medicine they need, they aren't getting regular checkups, they're not getting proper guidance with regard to nutrition."
The Spanish-language version of the website launched December, after the English-version, and was riddled with technical problems and poor translations. Hispanic immigrants also reported that the verification of immigration documents was a struggle for the program.
In addition, many legal and undocumented Hispanic immigrants expressed fear of enrollment, believing that it would lead to immigration enforcement efforts, though the administration reassured that the contrary was true.
The self-proclaimed "Champion in Chief," President Obama, pledged to legal immigrants that they should not be discouraged to sign up, and enrollment would not put their undocumented family members at risk. That said in spite of the Obama administration's stunning deportation record. The administration is responsible for the deporting so many undocumented immigrants that it's comparable to "the population of the entire state of Nebraska." This has earned his the alternative name,"deporter-in-chief" from prominent Latino groups.
"We respectfully disagree with the president on his ability to stop unnecessary deportations. He can stop tearing families apart. He can stop throwing communities and businesses into chaos. He can stop turning a blind eye to the harm being done. He does have the power to stop this. Failure to act will be shameful legacy for this his presidency," National Council of La Raza (NCLR) president Janet Murguia will say, according to a copy of her remarks provided to CBS News.
More than 30 percent of Hispanic individuals under that age of 65 are uninsured, and are without access to dental and health care. While the Obama administration pushes to correct this, they fail to gain the trust of Latinos, who fear the deportation of their loved ones.
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