Thread: Illegal immigrants divide discussions on health care reform

Illegal immigrants divide discussions on health care reform

The Monitor (McAllen, Texas)
November 10, 2009 Tuesday
STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS
By Jared Janes, The Monitor

MCALLEN -- Immigration advocates shouted support for health care reform Monday afternoon as Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison was ushered away from the airport during a campaign stop in the Rio Grande Valley.

As health care reform takes center stage in the U.S. Senate, the shouting over one divisive and complicated issue won't stop soon.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are grappling with how to handle illegal immigrants -- an issue, along with abortion, that at times threatened to derail reform efforts in the House -- in the health care bill.

While both chambers seem to agree that taxpayers shouldn't subsidize health insurance coverage for illegal immigrants, a consensus hasn't been reached on whether immigrants will be allowed to buy coverage using their own money.

The reform bill passed in the House prevents illegal immigrants from accessing subsidies available to low-income Americans.

But the Senate bill goes further by preventing them from purchasing at all on the health insurance exchange, the system set up for those who don't receive health care coverage through employers to purchase coverage at group insurance rates.

Hutchison, who blasted the House bill passed with only one Republican vote as a "government takeover" of the nation's health care system, said immigrants shouldn't access the subsidies.

"If this bill passes, which I hope it doesn't, I don't think there should be subsidies for illegal immigrants that American taxpayers would pay," Hutchison said during her stop in the Valley at McCreery Aviation Co. "We need to step back from this government takeover and instead offer more choices for people to buy affordable health care coverage."

Sen. John Cornyn, a staunch advocate for immigration reform who has pressed for Congress to take up the issue, also said in a statement Tuesday that "taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize the health care benefits of illegal immigrants."

Illegal immigration and health care reform were hotbed issues even before Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., gained national attention for shouting "You lie!" during President Barack Obama's health care address to Congress in September.

The outburst came after the president denied that health care legislation would provide free coverage for illegal immigrants.

The White House officials have sided with the Senate by insisting that illegal immigrants be excluded from buying their own coverage on the insurance exchange.

But in South Texas and other areas where there is a large population of undocumented residents, what the bill does to handle illegal immigrants is critical for emergency rooms that are forced to foot the bill for treating illegal immigrants who show up at their doors seeking medical care.

Anywhere from 6 million to 8 million illegal immigrants -- or one-third of the total left uninsured -- would be left without coverage in both the House and Senate versions of the bill, recent estimated by the Congressional Budget Office show.

U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, said he'll watch how the House and Senate differ on handling illegal immigrants.

Ortiz said he supports allowing anyone to buy coverage on the exchange with their own money, adding taxpayers already pay for care that hospitals give to undocumented residents.

U.S. Rep. Ruben Hinojosa also said he supports putting a plan in place that allows illegal immigrants to buy insurance.

"Allowing all people who are residents here to buy heath insurance will only save tax payers money," he said. "It will also reduce the high volume of visits to the emergency room by illegal immigrants, which raises the cost to all taxpayers."

Like his colleagues from the state in the Senate, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, said non-legal residents should be prohibited from receiving federal subsidies.

However, demonstrators who chanted "Health care reform now" while waiting for Hutchison's arrival said immigrants shouldn't be blamed for the nation's health care woes.

Juanita Valdez-Cox, executive director of La Union del Pueblo Entero, an immigrant advocacy group based in San Juan, said up to 80 percent of the uninsured in Texas are U.S. citizens.

"Everybody should be included," she said after the senator arrived in McAllen. "Health care issues don't recognize whether you are undocumented or not."

Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/En ... 04&start=1

Is there some law that prohibits illegals from purchasing health insurance on the open market? Didn't think so. In fact, a pretty good number get insurance through their employers.

Duplicate post. Please post any further comments to:
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-177525-joe.html+wilson