Thread: HEALTH EXPERTS WARN AGAINST EXCLUDING IMMIGRANTS FROM

HEALTH EXPERTS WARN AGAINST EXCLUDING IMMIGRANTS FROM REFORM

Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
September 28, 2009 Monday
Posted by William Gibson on September 28, 2009

Medical experts in South Florida warn that excluding undocumented immigrants from the benefits of health-care reform could jeopardize the public health and leave costly gaps in insurance coverage.

The exclusion could impair attempts to prevent the spread of infectious disease, such as swine flu, and to avoid expensive treatments at emergency rooms, several public-health leaders predict.

The warnings stem from attempts by President Obama and members of both parties in Congress to block illegal immigrants from tapping tax breaks and expanded coverage plans under health-reform legislation. Some members also hope to prevent newly arrived legal immigrants from gaining these benefits for five years.

The Senate Finance Committee, struggling to draft a compromise bill, has incorporated verification requirements to exclude the undocumented from a newly created marketplace for buying insurance.

Some health leaders in South Florida, home to about a million undocumented foreigners and many legal immigrants, fear the outcome will undermine the advantages of legislation designed to cover everybody.

"If I'm standing next to someone who has tuberculosis and who is uninsured, it doesn't protect me if they aren't treated," said Fernando Trevino, dean of the School of Public Health at Florida International University. "To the degree that someone is not getting care, they are more likely to spread infectious diseases to the rest of the population."

He and other public-health experts also point to potential costs that may be borne by taxpayers, who fund public facilities.

"People forget that we already provide inefficient and expensive care to undocumented residents," said Dr. Olveen Carrasquillo, chief of general internal medicine at the University of Miami medical school. "They come into public hospitals and emergency rooms with advanced stages of an illness. Often they have medical conditions that are very expensive to treat but could have been prevented with primary care."

By law, hospitals and other providers are required to treat patients of all kinds who need emergency care.

Public clinics in South Florida and elsewhere do not ask patients about their immigration status. They also give vaccinations for such things as swine flu without demanding documents.

The restrictions on immigrants, if approved by Congress, would apply to tax breaks and other new benefits provided by the reform legislation, which are designed to help cover the uninsured.

The undocumented would be excluded from "exchanges," a marketplace for small businesses and individuals to shop for insurance. And they could not get tax breaks or subsidies designed to make insurance affordable.

Undocumented immigrants could still buy insurance on the private market outside these exchanges.

Determined to prevent explosive immigration issues from derailing health reforms, Obama assured Congress in a nationally televised speech this month that "the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally."

This remark sparked an outcry from conservatives, most immediately from Congressman Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who shouted "You lie!" during the speech. Wilson warns that reforms being considered in Congress would allow illegal residents to take advantage of benefits funded by taxpayers.

Florida Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat on the Finance Committee, supports restrictions on the undocumented.

"Nelson's bottom-line position is that a health-care bill should not provide benefits to folks here illegally," said spokesman Dan McLaughlin. "In fact, he supports tough verification."

Immigrant advocates in Florida and around the country are appalled at the direction of the debate.

"It's sad and upsetting that the scapegoating of immigrants continues to grow and even affects something amazing like health care," said Jose Luis Marantes, a youth organizer for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, an advocacy group with offices in Miami and West Palm Beach. "It just plays into the public fear and into the violence that comes from that fear."

Public health leaders are concerned that the heated rhetoric and restrictions will further discourage immigrants of all kinds and some U.S. citizens from seeking care.

They say some residents who don?t speak English or meet the profile of a typical American -- even some who are here legally -- are reluctant to expose themselves at public facilities for fear of harassment or deportation.

"By not covering them, we are choosing the worst for them and the worst for the rest of us in terms of financial cost," Carrasquillo said. "We end up paying for it."

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They say some residents who don?t speak English or meet the profile of a typical American -- even some who are here legally -- are reluctant to expose themselves at public facilities for fear of harassment or deportation.

"By not covering them, we are choosing the worst for them and the worst for the rest of us in terms of financial cost," Carrasquillo said. "We end up paying for it."

So? They are free to return to their home countries, we owe them nothing.

"If I'm standing next to someone who has tuberculosis and who is uninsured, it doesn't protect me if they aren't treated," said Fernando Trevino, dean of the School of Public Health at Florida International University. "To the degree that someone is not getting care, they are more likely to spread infectious diseases to the rest of the population."

He and other public-health experts also point to potential costs that may be borne by taxpayers, who fund public facilities.

These concerns weren't important for the last 26 years as so many chose to ignore enforcement of the 86 immigration laws. Yet now they want to use it as a debate point?

-- as in "jobs Americans won't do". "If you give them in state tuition, you will have a better educated work force". "If you let them stay and give them temporary legality, they will pay taxes and provide a better economy", "because most of them are young , legalizing them will help Social Security and they will support older Americans".

Employers get US as in USA citizens to pay for the education, medical costs and so on for the illegals. These greedy employers benefit at the expense of the rest of Americans.

Thus, we cannot expose ourselves to sick people who are illegal???? We should give anyone free health care because it is safer for us?? That is like the argument that we will be safer if we remove gun ownership from everyone because it will keep criminals, legal or illegal from owning guns. I am not crazy! Just sit and analyze it.

If the argument as to the work force is true , why don't we actively seek to grow the population , as quickly as possible to 400 or 500 million--make them all legal and collect taxes--we will live happily ever after.
Think of the construction industry---booming as we build new homes for all the new people. And of course, the employers will hire Americans first, just as they do now. The middle class will do well , just as they do now.

We will then stop all manufacturing here in the USA and be able to buy everything built in other countries and help the economies of those countries to grow. Won't it be wonderful. Of course, many Americans jobs will disappear--that is never an issue--the issue is alway how cheaply we can buy goods. (That is the attitude of our patriotic employers.)Well, no matter how cheap they get, no one will be able to buy them without a pay check coming in.

PS Where is the overseas market for our goods when we bring the labor force here?? And the employers keep shipping jobs to India, China, etc????)

Undocumented immigrants could still buy insurance on the private market outside these exchanges.

Or they can go home. Americans do not want to pay for illegal aliens health care!
If health care experts think Americans would be safer because illegals wouldnt be walking around sick and exposing themselves all over the place, then maybe these experts should recommend the government deport them all.

Just watch they are going to stick to us again!!

Deport them all! Then do something like President Eisehnower's Operation Wetback version 2 - and also enforce employer laws and require all welfare agencies to prove citizenship. These last 2 items will tend to make the rest of them go home - no American jobs or freebies. These would save the Billions and Billions that Illegal Invaders would otherwise be sucking out of our economy - this would more than cover the cost of rounding 'em up and heading them out.

Then, we can start at the border - do a health check - just like my ancestors went thru at Ellis Island.

Clean the house out first, then keep it clean from that point onward. Make sense?