Thread: Nebraska governor rejects prenatal care funding for illegal immigrants

Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:25pm EDT

(Reuters) - Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman vetoed a proposal to restore Medicaid-funded prenatal care for illegal immigrants on Friday, but the initiative could still survive if the state legislature rejects his move next week.

Nebraska state senators voted 31-15 on Wednesday to restore the program, which was eliminated two years ago after providing prenatal care for decades.

The number of votes in favor was one more than would be needed to override the veto and the Nebraska legislature has one day left in its current session -- next Wednesday -- in which to do so.

"I oppose providing taxpayer benefits to illegal immigrants," Heineman said in his veto letter.

Heineman, who is anti-abortion, also said he had "grave concerns" that some funding could go to abortion provider Planned Parenthood and that Nebraska could become a sanctuary for illegal immigrants because no bordering states offered similar coverage.

About 1,600 low-income women were affected when Nebraska eliminated the program in 2010. About half were illegal immigrants and others were women who lost benefits for failing to comply with all requirements. Coverage was later restored for legal residents and others who do not qualify for Medicaid.

Religious, anti-abortion and health groups have called on Nebraska to restore the coverage, saying it was morally right and fiscally prudent. The state must pay for birth defects and other complications suffered by children who are U.S. citizens upon birth and qualify for taxpayer-funded health care.

Restoring the program would cost about $650,000 in state funds, plus $1.9 million in federal money annually. The tax-funded care has been estimated at $1,500 to $2,000 per mother.

Supporters of the bill have said the $650,000 cost is less than the $800,000 medical bill for one child - paid by Nebraska taxpayers - whose health problems were caused by the lack of prenatal care for an immigrant mother in one case since 2010.

Nebraska governor rejects prenatal care funding for illegal immigrants | Reuters

ADDED TO ALIPAC HOMEPAGE News with amended title ..

http://www.alipac.us/content/nebrask...mmigrants-372/

Guest MINDSETTER™ Terry Gorman: Illegal Aliens Drive Up Hospital Costs



Using the uncompensated care that has been provided by Lifespan and the rest of the hospitals in our capital city as an excuse not to “chip in” a little more to help Providence with its budget woes is disingenuous.

Maybe if someone took a deeper look into the uncompensated care scenario some light might be shed on it.

I seem to recall in 2008 alone the state paid the entire hospital system in our state $138 million in uncompensated care out of a request for $175 million. I believe a significant portion of those funds are used to pay for voluntary medical services to Illegal Aliens who are only entitled to "Emergency Medical Care.”

The hospitals claim they have no way to determine what portion of that money pays for the services which fall outside the emergency medical care required by the Federal Government. I appeared several years ago on a local cable TV show (Trillo Talks) along with a young lady who was disguised to protect her identity. She was an employee of one of the Lifespan hospitals and stated emphatically that she was required to annotate every expense incurred by her patients with the “special code”(for illegal aliens) . . .

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