Roundup of legal and illegal immigrant coverage by Obamacare

Posted Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 10:45 am

Julia Preston of the New York Times has a roundup of the current state of Obamacare as it relates to coverage of legal immigrants and illegal aliens here. While near the beginning she does try to pretend that the Democrats wants to prevent illegal aliens from receiving benefits, she also includes quotes from those working to stiffen the identification requirements and correctly pointing out what the Democrats are trying to do. Per her, the battle now is over whether legal immigrants will be covered immediately or whether they'll have a waiting period. She also includes this:

"You can either keep those immigrants healthy now, or exclude them and wait until they get really sick, then pay for it down the line," said Prof. Steven P. Wallace, associate director of the U.C.L.A. research center. "If you don’t pay now, you’re going to pay for them later."

That's a false choice: legal immigrants are supposed to have sponsors who'll ensure that they don't become public charges.

Tags: 
new york times
obama healthcare
julia preston

Comments

Anonymous (not verified)

Wed, 11/04/2009 - 21:16

"If you don’t pay now, you’re going to pay for them later." Whether referring to legal or illegal, this is part of the 'they're here anyway, give them x' line. “They may have conditions that don’t get identified and infectious diseases that could be prevented that put the public at risk, and they may need to use higher cost hospital services when other services become inaccessible,” said Dr. Michael A. Rodriguez, a professor in the U.C.L.A Department of Family Medicine. He's right. But the answer isn't guaranteed non-emergency cradle to grave health care for anyone present in the U.S., legal or not. That will just create even more illegal immigration. I would ask someone who favors such a policy what new and stronger non-medical forms of deterrence would you favor to make up for strengthening the healthcare magnet? If we had effective deterrence that kept the number of illegal aliens to a small number, maybe we could be a little looser with with healthcare eligibility--but we don't.

Mary (not verified)

Thu, 11/05/2009 - 20:51

SEND THEM HOME!!!

Fred Dawes (not verified)

Thu, 11/05/2009 - 22:13

Mary is right, shot some who will not go.

Mary (not verified)

Fri, 11/06/2009 - 15:40

Tyrants are in control of the government. They are dekiberately,systematically destroying America. STOP paying taxes DO NOT FILE in 2010.!

Fred Dawes (not verified)

Sat, 11/07/2009 - 18:01

Mary been saying that for 10 years, our enemies are in power just AH. Americans may just become the new jews