Thread: NE-New Bill To Give Pregnant Illegal Immigrants Prenatal Car

I know - nothing makes sense anymore. It's like everything is upside down - when did this happen?

Well, I have the judges entire ruling on this in pdf form if you want to email me I can send it to you or if you give me about 20 minutes I'll post it on my website under its own tab "14th Am Ruling".

www.nebraskansadvisorygroup.org

Or you can google it "Judge Webber Ruling Illegal Alien Ordinance" MO

Heineman Against Prenatal Care For Illegals

Published: Thursday, February 25, 2010 11:45 PM CST
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has stated that he is opposed to providing state-funded, prenatal care to pregnant, illegal immigrants.

Heineman made his position known on Thursday in a letter to the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee. The committee held a hearing on a bill (LB1110) that would allow illegal immigrants to continue receiving care partially paid for by the state under a new program.

The bill is a reaction after federal officials notified the state that it had been breaking federal rules by allowing unborn children — not just their mothers — to qualify for Medicaid.

For decades, that allowed both legal residents and illegal immigrants who didn’t qualify for Medicaid to get Medicaid-covered care because their children qualified.

www.yankton.net

Governor Opposes Controversial Prenatal Care Bill

Posted: Feb 25, 2010 04:50 PM

Omaha, NE - Expecting moms are the subject of a measure under debate by Nebraska lawmakers. They're trying to figure out what to do after learning this month the state has been incorrectly using Medicaid funds to pay for prenatal care. The bill now before the Legislature would create a new state fund to pay prenatal medical expenses for eligible women. Thursday, Governor Dave Heineman said he will not support it.

During a heated debate before the Health and Human Services committee, the arguments boiled down to money and immigration.

Pay now or pay later, that's the message from supporters of the bill. About twenty people showed up in favor, arguing if we don't pay the money now, these children will become a financial burden to Nebraska taxpayers in the future.

"All sorts of doctors, and we're a conservative lot, but everyone of them supports this bill no matter where we stand on immigration. We have a lot of differences of opinions on that, they said no matter what, the right thing to do both by a human cost and a financial cost is to support this bill," said Dr. David Filipi, President of the Nebraska Medical Association.

On the other side of the debate, the very controversial issue of paying for illegal immigrants.

"This is a difficult issue and we know there is disagreement among well meaning people. After careful and thoughtful review of the various aspects of this issue we are opposed to illegal immigrants to receiving taxpayer funded benefits," said Health and Human Services CEO Kerry Winterer.

Winterer estimates the state could save about 15.5 million dollars over the next three years by not caring for illegal immigrants and hundreds of other women who don't qualify because they make too much money, get child support or are incarcerated, among other similar circumstances.

State Auditor Mike Foley also spoke in favor of the bill, saying it makes "fiscal sense."

The bill was introduced by Senator Kathy Campbell after the state learned it had been using Medicaid funds incorrectly to pay medical expenses for thousands of pregnant women. More than 6,000 women learned this month their prenatal care would no longer be covered by Medicaid beginning March 1.

After reviewing those cases, the state has determined most (4,655) are eligible for continued Medicaid coverage; 709 women are not eligible for reasons including exceeding income guidelines; an additional 842 women living in the U.S. illegally are no longer eligible; 115 cases remain under review.

Reported by Molli Graham, mgraham@action3news.com

http://www.action3news.com/global/story.asp?s=12047183

Neb. governor opposes prenatal care for illegals
NATE JENKINS Posted: Thursday, February 25, 2010 9:25 pm

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- A showdown over illegal immigration and prenatal care for pregnant women is shaping up between Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman and a significant block of lawmakers.

After weeks of silence on the matter, Heineman and a top member of his administration on Thursday stated in a letter to lawmakers that "the key issue ... is whether illegal immigrants should be receiving taxpayer-funded benefits.

"This is a difficult issue and we know that there is disagreement among well-meaning people. After a careful and thoughtful review of the various aspects of the issue, we are opposed to illegal immigrants receiving taxpayer-funded benefits," Heineman said in the letter, also from Kerry Winterer, CEO of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Doctors, hospital leaders, health officials and the state's leading anti-abortion group gave the legislative committee a different message on Thursday when supporting a bill that would allow pregnant, illegal immigrants to continue to get state-and-federal funded prenatal care.

They said the issue was about caring for yet-to-be-born children and saving the state money long-term by preventing health problems in babies. All babies born in the U.S., regardless of their parents' legal status, are U.S. citizens so qualify for government programs.

"It's outrageous opponents would waste our tax dollars and let babies die ... just to make some cheap political statement about illegal immigration," said Dr. Kristine McVea, a pediatrician and medical director of OneWorld Community Health centers. It provides care to low income people and minorities, many of them Hispanics, at 26 sites in the state.

The bill before the committee, which is expected to advance soon to the full Legislature, is a reaction to federal notification to the state late last year by federal Medicaid officials. They said the state had been breaking federal rules by allowing unborn children -- not just their mothers -- to qualify for Medicaid.

For nearly three decades, that allowed legal residents and illegal immigrants who didn't qualify for Medicaid to get Medicaid-covered care because their children qualified. Last fiscal year, more than 2,800 pregnant, illegal immigrants in Nebraska received Medicaid services.

"The focus of the bill is on the child -- the unborn child," said Sen. Kathy Campbell of Lincoln, who introduced the bill, said in response to Heineman's statement. "This continues a practice that's been in Nebraska for 25 years."

About 840 pregnant, illegal immigrants are slated to lose state-and-federal funded prenatal care on March 1. If Campbell's bill is approved by lawmakers, who would likely have to hurdle a gubernatorial veto, the bill would go into effect immediately. That could potentially leave the women without coverage for a short amount of time.

Meanwhile, the vast majority of pregnant, legal residents will continue to qualify for Medicaid despite earlier concerns that many could be shut off because of the federal notification. State officials said on Thursday that their reviews of more than 6,300 women considered at risk of losing Medicaid found that 4,655 of them -- all legal residents -- will continue to be covered.

About 700 won't -- but Winterer said the vast majority, if not all of those women, don't qualify for reasons unrelated to the federal notification that yet-to-be-born children can't qualify for Medicaid. Some, for instance, have already given birth, others have left the state, among many other reasons.

The cost of Campbell's proposal will be eyed closely by lawmakers.

Under her measure, the state would create a standalone program under the federal Children's Health Insurance Program to replace the lost Medicaid coverage.

The legislation would allow yet-to-be-born children to be eligible for prenatal-care coverage, much like Nebraska had interpreted Medicaid rules for years. Like Medicaid, the state and the federal government would share the cost.

Legislative fiscal analysts have estimated that using the new program for the yet-to-be born children of illegal immigrants would cost the state about $5.7 million this year.

Comparatively, the cost would be about $7 million had the women been allowed to continue receiving Medicaid, according to the estimate. Winterer said he didn't disagree with those figures, but that the program Campbell is proposing is more susceptible to losing federal funding because it's not an entitlement program like Medicaid.

"When the money's gone, it's gone," he said, and the state may have to pick up the cost.

Federal Medicaid officials say 14 states have similar programs, though those states had different reasons for participating.

Nebraska is believed to be the only state that allowed yet-to-be-born children to qualify for Medicaid.

Posted in Nebraska, State-and-regional, News on Thursday, February 25, 2010 9:25 pm Updated: 9:28 pm.


http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/news/st ... 03286.html

Heineman opposes prenatal care plan; testimony on bill heard Thursday

By NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, February 25, 2010 7:19 pm | (13) Comments

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Gov. Dave Heineman (AP file) .

Gov. Dave Heineman will oppose a prenatal care plan drafted by the Nebraska Legislature because it would provide taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal immigrants.

"After a careful and thoughtful review of the various aspects of this issue, we are opposed to illegal immigrants receiving taxpayer-funded benefits," Heineman said in a letter read Thursday at a public hearing on the prenatal care plan.

The governor's stand assures the plan will become embroiled in immigration politics and likely means the Legislature eventually will need 30 votes to overcome a governor's veto.

Now senators know his stand and have information on the issue so they can make a decision on the proposal, Sen. Tim Gay, chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, said after a three-hour public hearing on the bill (LB1110). Senators took no immediate action.

The proposal re-establishes a more than 20-year-old program providing prenatal care to all unborn babies if their mothers are low-income.

Late last year, the federal government said Nebraska could not provide care through Medicaid to pregnant women who are in the U.S. illegally, but could re-establish the state's traditional program for all unborn children using a different source of federal funds, called SCHIP.

More than 1,540 women -- about 25 percent of the pregnant women eligible for services in February -- lost Medicaid benefits this month under the stricter definitions. About 840 were illegal immigrants who lost benefits under traditional Medicaid rules, and 700 were U.S. citizens and legal immigrants. Many of these women would receive care under the legislative plan, introduced by Sen. Kathy Campbell of Lincoln.

Caseworkers are working with an additional 115 women to determine eligibility, based on numbers from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Supporters and opponents of the prenatal care plan framed the issue from two different perspectives during the hearing.

n Care for unborn babies who will be U.S citizens and thus eligible for traditional Medicaid-funded care at birth.

n Care for pregnant mothers who are in the country illegally.

Supporters pointed to the financial and practical benefits of providing prenatal care to all low-income women and their unborn babies. Lack of prenatal care costs about $2,300 per child, when the hospital cost of low birth weight babies and other problems associated with lack of prenatal care is spread across the newborn population, said Dr. David Filipi, president of the Nebraska Medical Association.

Clichés accurately describe the situation, said Dr. Richard Raymond, former state chief medical officer.

"Pay me now or pay me later; penny-wise and pound foolish; the true soul of a society is judged by how it helps those who cannot help themselves.

"Nebraska taxpayers will lose in the end," he said.

Representatives of medical and social organizations including Nebraska Right to Life supported the measure during the hearing.

"We want to assure that innocent, unborn children will receive prenatal services, said Brenda Eller of David City, president of Nebraska Right to Life.

The group's board voted unanimously to support the bill.

This is the right thing to do from a pro-life position, regardless of the immigration status, Eller said.

Even the governor's representative, Kerry Winterer, CEO of the Department of Health and Human Services, said he was not contesting the value of prenatal services.

"It's almost intuitive that prenatal care would contribute to the health of the mother and child."

The question, he said, is who should pay for it.

Opponents focused on the immigrant issue, contending that providing prenatal care to illegal immigrants encourages others to come to the state.

The idea that society is responsible for people who are breaking the law "is completely ridiculous and completely false," said Dimitrij Krynsky, who emigrated legally from Czechoslovakia about 30 years ago.

What the state should do is make sure these people do not find work here, do not find apartments here, he said. Nebraska should create an environment that will send them home, he said.

"The citizens I've been listening to are absolutely furious that taxpayer dollars are being abused and mismanaged," said Susan Smith of Nebraskans Advisory Group, which describes itself as concerned over the negative impact of illegal immigration.

Many of the supporters of the prenatal care plan are those who are making money off of what Smith called the illegal alien situation and are guaranteed medical payments, she said.

Smith was one of five opponents to the bill.

Both sides were passionate.

Dr. Kristine McVea, with Omaha's OneWorld Community Health Center, asked why the state "would waste our tax dollars or have babies die to make cheap political statements about immigration."

Omahan Joe Waszgis said people are "sick and tired" of illegal immigrants.

"Our kids can't get any insurance, yet we keep coddling these people," he said.

He suggested those who feel sorry for illegal immigrants sell everything they have, move to another country and "teach them how to read, write and speak English, then send them back and we will welcome them."

The Health and Human Services Committee has made the bill a priority, but it will still need a majority vote to get out of committee.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.

http://www.journalstar.com/news/state-a ... 002e0.html

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It was a very long day. We were lucky even more of the Illegal Alien community organizations weren't there to give support testimony - they were busy at the public hearing on a controversial abortion bill at the same time as our public hearing.

It had to make an impact that 4 of the 5 opponents were citizens who sat through 20 proponents testimony - 19 of which were either Medical related facilities or community organizations who profit handsomely from illegal immigration through guaranteed Medicaid payments.

In an earlier article the One World Community Center stated they would lose about $500,000 to $600,000 dollars just from the Illegal Alien pregnant women who were currently getting services through them.

My testimony also focused on criminal penaltys and fines for breaking federal immigration laws and I quoted directly from U.S.C law. And (thanks to a suggestion by a poster on this site) I also brought up the "NO FRILLS" emergency treatment that Illegal ALiens were supposed to get.

I don't know how this will turn out, but one thing is for sure, if this bill is advanced to the floor we will then know where each senator stands on the issue of illegal immigration and we will know who we need to replace in the elections.

Thanks for everyone's help. You are the best!