Did Joe Wilson vote to give healthcare to illegal aliens in 2003? (Donny Shaw, Sunlight)

The short answer is "no". The reason why there's even a question is because it's part of the campaign by Obama supporters to smear Joe Wilson for his "You lie!" outburst during a recent Obama speech. While that campaign rages on even today, here's a recent flashback to Sep. 11. Donny Shaw [1] offered "Joe Wilson Voted to Provide Taxpayer Money for Illegal Immigrants' Healthcare" [2]:

in 2003, Wilson voted to provide federal funds for illegal immigrants’ healthcare. The vote came on the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, which contained Sec. 1011 authorizing $250,000 annually between 2003 and 2008 for government reimbursements to hospitals who provide treatment for uninsured illegal immigrants.

Thankfully, a commenter saved me time by saying:

Not sure how you put 2 and 2 together here. Wilson's vote authorized the hospitals to be reimbursed for something they were already legally obligated to do. There's a difference.

Indeed. Amounts eligible for reimbursement were those "required by the application of section 1867 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395dd)". That's here. To a certain extent, reimbursing hospitals for emergency care (or states for incarceration costs) papers over attempts by state politicians to support illegal immigration. However, it's not at all inconsistent with at the same time supporting enforcement of our immigration laws in order to reduce those payments, and it's not comparable to giving a benefit to illegal aliens themselves as many Democratic leaders are eagar to do.

Note also that Shaw falsely states that the House bill won't cover illegal aliens.

[1] Shaw is "Lead Blogger for OpenCongress and Outreach Coordinator for the Participatory Politics Foundation"; the first group is a joint venture between PPF and the Sunlight Foundation. I've left a few comments at the latter's site discussing how they seem to favor "artificial sunlight"; do a find for 24AheadDotCom at sunlightlabs.com/blog/2009/we-are-going-bid-recoverygov

[2] opencongress.org/articles/view/
1219-Joe-Wilson-Voted-to-Provide-Taxpayer-Money-for-Illegal-Immigrants-Healthcare