Thread: Health care tied to immigration

Posted on Fri, Oct. 02, 2009
Health care tied to immigration
STEVEN A. CAMAROTA

WASHINGTON - Immigration and health care are not only two of the most contentious issues we face, they are very much related.

If we look at illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children, they account for one in six people without health insurance in America. If we actually enforced our immigration laws and encouraged more illegal immigrants to return home, we could reduce the size of the uninsured population, save taxpayers money and free up health care dollars for legal immigrants and native-born Americans who need care.

Most estimates show that 60 percent of illegal immigrants do not have health insurance. The underlying reason illegal immigrants don't have insurance is their much lower average level of education. Research indicates that 80 percent of illegal immigrants have no more than a high school education. These "less-educated" illegal immigrants typically work at low-wage jobs that don't provide insurance and their low incomes make it difficult for them to afford health insurance on their own.

At present, the cost to taxpayers of treating uninsured illegal immigrants is $4.3 billion a year - primarily at emergency rooms and free clinics. These costs reflect the low-education level of most illegal immigrants, the realities of the modern American economy and our society's commitment to treating all those in need of emergency and acute care.

President Obama has suggested an amnesty for illegal immigrants would fix this problem. If we legalized illegal immigrants, the vast majority would become less-educated legal immigrants.

Our analysis of Census Bureau data from 2008 shows that one-third of less-educated green card holders (legal non-citizens) did not have health insurance. Another one-third were on Medicaid - taxpayer provided health insurance for the poor.

Now of course, those on Medicaid do have health insurance, but it is paid for by taxpayers, which means we have not solved the cost problem. Those who are uninsured are costly to taxpayers, but those on Medicaid are dramatically more costly.

If we did legalize illegal immigrants and allowed them to sign up for Medicaid or the new affordability credits in the House health-care reform bill, it would improve their access to medical care. This could be a justification for an amnesty. But it would mean higher costs and possibly less care for low-income citizens and legal immigrants. Politicians who favor amnesty must acknowledge this reality.

If we want to avoid the costs of illegal immigration, we have to enforce the law and encourage illegal immigrants to go home! Just-released Census data indicates that illegals are, in fact, heading home in much larger numbers than in the past and the total illegal population may have declined by more than 1 million between 2007 and 2009.

To further encourage this process we would need to secure the border, get the cooperation of local law enforcement, require employers to verify that new hires are legally present and penalize employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

If we allow the illegal to stay, we have to understand that individuals with a few years of schooling are a fiscal drain. In fact, the research is very clear: Less-educated immigrants in the country legally are a larger fiscal drain than less-educated immigrants in the country illegally.

Part of the reason for this is the large percentage of less-educated legal immigrants who use Medicaid and other welfare programs. Either we enforce the law and encourage illegal immigrants to go home or we accept the costs. There is no alternative.

Contact Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, at CIS, 1522 K St. N.W., Suite 820, Washington, DC 20005-1202.

http://www.thesunnews.com/opinion/story/1098981.html

WASHINGTON - Immigration and health care are not only two of the most contentious issues we face, they are very much related.

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