Thread: Immigrant Fraud Imperils Medicaid

Immigrant Fraud Imperils Medicaid
Monday, 07 Mar 2011 11:56 AM
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By James Walsh

What exactly is Medicaid? Apparently it is a tangled web of loosely regulated federal assistance programs administered by the states for low-income children and disabled adults.

Along with Medicare, Medicaid was created by the Social Security Amendments of 1965 (Public Law 89-97) as part of the Great Society and War on Poverty of President Lyndon Johnson.

At that time, with the Democrat Party controlling the White House and both Houses of Congress, Medicare and Medicaid were intended to form the Great Society’s comprehensive healthcare plan into the future.

LBJ and the 1965-66 Congressional Democrats allowed Medicare and Medicaid to be governed by an evolving set of complex rules and bureaucratic regulations. Each state was to determine Medicaid eligibility and services.

From the start, a disturbing characteristic of Medicaid was the range in estimated costs. No one had exact figures. Medicaid costs in the late 1960s were estimated at $2.5 billion to $4.7 billion per year. By 1996, costs had jumped to an estimated $8.1 billion; and by 2008, Medicaid estimates reached an unsustainable $299 billion.

Projections are that Medicaid costs in 2012 could range from $387 billion to $700 billion per year.

What has happened? Is the United States experiencing an explosion of medically indigent citizens? No. Truth be known, the mounting increase in Medicaid dollars is the result of a mounting increase in undocumented immigrants.

To further muddy the waters, Social Security Administration (SSA) financial reports lump Medicare and Medicaid together under Public Assistance expenditures, even though Medicare recipients pay for their health insurance in monthly installments subtracted from their wages and/or Social Security checks.

In contrast, Medicaid recipients make no such payments. In addition, Medicare and Medicaid have overlapping services. If the U.S. Congress can’t track Medicare and Medicaid costs, how are citizen-voters to make sense of this bureaucratic web?

Let’s focus on Medicaid. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation report issued in February 2011, estimated federal spending on Medicaid in 2009 was $387 billion. Of this amount, $349 billion went for “Medical Servicesâ€

Well! If this doesn't rot your socks....Nothing will...or you're one of them!

No. Truth be known, the mounting increase in Medicaid dollars is the result of a mounting increase in undocumented immigrants.

Yes, we need to cut "entitlements".

It's primarily pregnant illegals and their U.S. born children who are draining Medicaid funds dry. Ending birthright citizenship must be a top priority.