Thread: Opponents of insurance bill play immigration card

Published Monday | November 5, 2007
Opponents of insurance bill play immigration card
BY JAKE THOMPSON
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1 ... d=10176487

WASHINGTON — Once again, illegal immigration is helping tie Congress in knots.

The subject has been injected into some seemingly unlikely discussions this year, including debate over a new farm bill.

Now it has become a major hang-up delaying renewal of the popular State Children's Health Insurance Program, which Republicans and Democrats alike largely support.

The House and Senate twice have approved bills to renew SCHIP. President Bush vetoed the first bill and is threatening to veto the second, which received final approval from Congress last week.

That bill would add an estimated 4 million beneficiaries to the program, which provides coverage for children from families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private insurance. It currently provides benefits to about 6 million children.

At a cost of $35 billion, the expanded program would be paid for through an increase in tobacco taxes, including a 61-cent rise on a package of cigarettes.

Many Republicans who support Bush's threatened veto, including three Midlands House members, say the renewal legislation would give health benefits to illegal immigrants.

The bill's defenders disagree. But they are working to add guarantees to the legislation that would make certain that illegal immigrants couldn't qualify.

Against that backdrop, federal officials say they have no idea whether illegal immigrants have used the 10-year-old program because it hasn't required proof of citizenship.

At the same time, they say they have no anecdotal reports that participation by illegal immigrants is a problem.

That has prompted some Democrats and children's advocates to accuse the bill's Republican foes of using the immigration issue as political cover.

They contend that without playing the immigration card, it's hard for GOP congressmen to side with Bush and oppose a kids' health care bill only because it would raise tobacco taxes and might cover some families who could possibly afford private insurance.

"I feel they are sounding an alarm when I have yet to see any evidence there are a significant number of undocumented immigrants obtaining benefits," said Tiffany Siebert of Voices for Children in Nebraska.

Three Midlands Republicans — House members Lee Terry and Adrian Smith of Nebraska and Iowan Steve King — say they want to renew SCHIP. But they voted against the latest SCHIP bill, warning about expanded government-run health care and the future immigration impact.

Terry said the bill would have led to "taxpayer-funded health care to illegal immigrants."

Smith called for some assurance that "guarantees illegal immigrants do not have access to federal benefits."

King was emphatic: "It's a guaranteed windfall for illegal aliens."

Such charges exasperate Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a key backer of the SCHIP legislation. The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Grassley is negotiating with House and Senate lawmakers on various GOP objections.

"There's absolutely nothing in this bill that would make coverage more easily available for illegal immigrants," Grassley said. "Those who say otherwise believe what they want to believe, not the facts."

He and other backers cite a declaration in the bill: "Nothing in this Act allows Federal payment for individuals who are not legal residents."

That's not enough for Terry, Smith, King and many other Republicans.

Even Grassley admits that with 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country, it would be naive to think that no one has obtained SCHIP benefits.

"But we're going to require documentation to make sure it doesn't happen in the future," he said. "Our intent is that only citizens should be able to get SCHIP."

That documentation requirement also sparks dispute.

The original SCHIP law, enacted in 1997, didn't include any citizenship test for applicants.

Under the renewal legislation, SCHIP applicants would have to meet the same citizenship requirements as Medicaid applicants, including being ready to present a birth certificate or a passport.

The legislation also would give states another option. Applicants could provide their names and Social Security numbers. Each number then would be checked against Social Security Administration records identifying the citizenship of the number holder.

But Terry, Smith and King say that wouldn't effectively screen out undocumented immigrants.

Each cited a letter that House Republicans requested from Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue. The letter says Astrue's office would not provide verification for citizenship.

"Social Security numbers are a dime a dozen on the streets, fraudulent Social Security ID's," Terry said. "So, the fact that there's no verification allows illegals to obtain the benefit."

King said he will withhold support for the bill until the same citizenship test that's used for Medicaid is adopted for SCHIP: "Anything else turns up the electromagnet that attracts people to come here illegally.".

Even if a state determined that an applicant didn't have proper citizenship documentation, Smith contends that an applicant would immediately get benefits and be allowed up to three months to clarify his or her status.

The government shouldn't provide any benefits during that period, Smith argues, noting that illegal immigration is a major issue in his 3rd Congressional District.

"Any public forum that I'm at . . . it doesn't matter what I want to talk about, they want to talk about immigration," Smith said. "It's on the top of their minds."

Although I am trying to quite smoking I don't think its right to tax a select few who do to pay for Illegal Immigrant children's health care

My second point is: Until I quite smoking, these goofy politicians are using up the fresh aid I need to keep my cigarette lit... so all of you goony goo goo politicians in DC top breathing please