I work at the airport in the eye of the coronavirus without health insurance
With dozens of Americans diagnosed with coronavirus in recent days, many travelers have started wondering whether they could be next. Some are even changing travel plans to evade the illness. But for workers like me at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport, and thousands of other workers at our nation’s busy airports, it’s something we have to wonder about every day as the world comes to our workplaces.
The news media and politicians concerned about health risks connected to coronavirus have missed a critical fact: Thousands of airport workers on the front lines of exposure to dangerous diseases have no health insurance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends visiting a doctor when experiencing symptoms, but going to the doctor often means personal financial crises for us.
Having multiple sclerosis and a compromised immune system because of it, means I am at risk as I interact with passengers directly as a security officer. I used to cover my medical needs through Medicaid, but the raise I got last year, which my co-workers fought for so hard, means I was dropped off Medicaid. As a result, my health insurance is in total limbo, and I fear what the future holds, as every aspect of my life depends on my health care coverage.
Feeling uncertain about the future
The medications and treatments I need to survive cost thousands of dollars per month. As a mom, I need to plan for my family, but I don’t know what awaits me from one day to the next. Getting sick has enormous consequences for workers like me. There is our own health, our families’ health — and also the health of the people we serve all at stake.
Across the Hudson River at New York's LaGuardia Airport, Jordany Bueno assists some of the most vulnerable people — the disabled, pregnant and elderly — by pushing their wheelchairs across the airport. Like me, he has to make tough choices about how to balance out his health needs. He is prone to seizures, but like me, he no longer qualifies for Medicaid with his increased wages. He routinely pays over $3,000 a year for medical treatments, because it’s much cheaper than the health insurance offered by his employer. He puts off essential MRIs and eye and dental appointments.
Patricia Alvis, an airplane cabin cleaner at John F. Kennedy International Airport, works through a painful fibroma condition that causes her to bleed constantly. She quickly used up her five paid sick days and was even forced to go home one day when blood trickled into her shoes. Like Jordany, Patricia couldn’t afford her employer’s health plan, and her income is too high to qualify for Medicaid or New York state's Essential Plan.
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Patricia estimates that it is cheaper to take out a loan, use her limited vacation days and fly to Ecuador for a recommended surgery. I fear for Patricia — in her weakened state, flying across the world is her best option.
Airport workers understand that being healthy doesn’t just mean we can take care of ourselves and our families; our health also affects the safety of the millions of passengers we touch every day. Workers understand that the demands of our jobs — to daily place our bodies in spaces of heightened security and disease risk — means we are owed an equal guarantee of care.
Give airport workers needed coverage
We’re at a pivotal moment, when the public and our government are deeply concerned about travel health safety. One step that can help keep everyone safe at airports is passing the Healthy Terminals Act.
The law creates a standard for 40,000 workers. If passed in New York and New Jersey, nearly all of these workers — baggage handlers, cleaners, wheelchair attendants, airport food service workers and more — will earn extra dollars that can be used to acquire desperately needed health care.
Other contracted workers already have this through similar legislation for federal employees. Airports like San Francisco and Los Angeles already require a healthcare supplement. Why don’t all airport workers have this?
Sick or healthy, we won’t sit around waiting for a broken system to fix itself. I know I’ll be in Trenton talking to legislators about the Healthy Terminals Act. And Jordany and Patricia will do the same in Albany. We are fighting to change things so workers like us, our families and the people we serve are safe.
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We are fighting to stay out of debt, go to the doctor and live dignified lives at a time when the airline industry is booming. It’s time we get a piece of the pie.
Coronavirus is not the first highly communicable disease outbreak that airport workers have experienced, and it will not be the last. Getting quality, affordable health insurance cannot come soon enough for us — the people who serve millions of passengers every single day.
Yvette Stephens is a security officer at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Working at an airport without health insurance
