By Wendy Leonard, Deseret News.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Bhutanese refugee community in Utah is tightly knit. They look after each other, according to some of its members.
But their numbers seem to be dwindling, said Tom Neupane, a 25-year-old University of Utah student who arrived in Utah with his family in 2009. He said several families, including some close friends of his, have fled to states where health care for low-income adults is more accessible.
"If nothing happens here by next summer, I'll be moving out of state, too," Neupane said. "We've been waiting for the good news for the last three years and nothing is happening."
The good news, he said, would be an expansion of Medicaid.
Neupane and his wife are insured through his job at the U., though he said he'd like to live in a state where Medicaid is available to a larger population of low-income adults so that he doesn't have to worry so much about his parents and his in-laws, and others in his family.
"Family is a big part of our culture. Taking care of them is our very first priority," he said. "It's been a very hard time."
Neupane doesn't think welfare programs should be free, but because he pays taxes, he wants to benefit from that in some way.
He said the Bhutanese culture is strong, encouraging education and progress in its youth. Many of his peers are seeking or have earned high-level degrees and "have unique talents."
"We could make the area richer, we have different business ideas," Neupane said. "Losing these communities is not a good thing. But it's really happening."
His father speaks limited English and works less than full-time as a janitor, therefore not qualifying for benefits. In 2014, he was paying about $30 a month for health care via www.healthcare.gov, but he now has to come up with $132 a month, just for himself, as rates have increased sharply in the first years of the marketplace.
"My mom doesn't have health insurance," Neupane said. "She needs to see the doctor, but she's not seeing anybody."
A "low-cost" version of imaging his mother needed ended up costing the family close to $3,000. The family applied for financial aid, but Neupane said it is hard to come up with that much when several families are living on so little.
As the most educated person in his family, and the most active in the community, Neupane said he is relied upon heavily.
"They have faith in me," he said. "They believe in me."
He also said that if he leaves, his family and likely others will follow.
"Our community, it was very big. It's shrinking slowly," Neupane said, adding that he doesn't see a lot of new Bhutanese refugees coming to Utah
