1 .When I think of European immigrants I tend to have one friend in mind.
2. It’s not that I don’t have lots of European friends, but I have only sat down with one, and with the help of a photo album, extensively talked about her time in France and her move to Britain. I know when she came and why.
3. A few years ago my friend took out a mortgage, and I think it was shortly after that she was diagnosed with cancer.
4. We were all relieved when she announced she had been given the all clear, and I remember her hair was still growing back when I saw her for her birthday three years ago.
5. A few weeks ago I saw her in for the first time since her birthday. I inquired how her health, and she told me the cancer had returned and spread to her bones. She had made a decision at the time not to publicise this as she had done her all clear.
6. She then told me one of her biggest concern now is that she doesn’t know what is going to happen in terms of her healthcare, and if it comes down to insurance, she might have a real problem.
7. She may look old enough, but she has actually been paying into our system for about 20 years, and she has barely ever paid into the system in the country she comes from.
8. If this was about “fairness” or people paying into the system, which is what politicians keep suggesting, then she should be guaranteed her healthcare now.
9. Instead, as she told me, she has been left completely in the dark.
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