Illegal Aliens & the Senate Healthcare Bill -- Better Than the House's, But Still Filled With Loopholes



By James Edwards, Saturday, November 21, 2009, 8:00 AM EST

This is my analysis of provisions pertaining to illegal immigrants as contained in Sen. Reid’s health reform bill, H.R. 3590.

The Senate health reform bill is better than the House-passed bill, in terms of verification of immigrant or citizenship status. But the Senate bill contains a number of serious loopholes by which illegal aliens can and will obtain taxpayer-funded health coverage. This will provide a net bonus to at least a portion of illegal aliens and may well serve as yet another incentive to break U.S. immigration laws.

Section 1411 provides for eligibility verification, including on the basis of citizenship or immigration status. And the verification applies more broadly than does its more vague counterpart in the House bill, H.R. 3962. The loophole-ridden House legislation requires a form of verification only for the premium subsidy. The Senate bill requires verification for entry into the “exchangeâ€