Tuesday, September 8, 2009

More on ObamaCare for Illegals

Via Memeorandum, The Center for Immigration Studies files this detailed report which concludes that "there are 6.6 million uninsured illegal immigrants in the United States who could be covered by the new health care reform bill (HR 3200). Even though HR 3200 states that illegal immigrants are not eligible for the proposed taxpayer-funded affordable premium credits, there is nothing in the bill to enforce this. An amendment was defeated in committee that would have required the use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, used by almost all other means-tested programs of this kind."

This is an issue that Michelle Malkin has raised and I have posted on here and here.

The cost to cover these folks are estimated to be about $30 billion but The Center suspects it may actually come in as less because many of those illegals would not enroll. If Obama gets an amnesty program through and they become legal, then the costs go back up.

The Corner at NRO points out that programs that use a verify system reported falling caseloads whereas those that didn't reported increasing caseloads:

We already have precedent for avoiding the illegal issue. When Federal ID requirements went in for Medicaid in 2006, Medicaid caseloads immediately started falling. It isn’t conclusive but it sure is suggestive.

SCHIP caseloads immediately started rising, at least in my state. SCHIP does not require ID. In my state it provides many of the same benefits as Medicaid and costs just $35 a year, max.

Not conclusive, true, but it is an indication of how ObamaCare will go if immigration status isn't screened.

4 comments:

Reaganite Republican said...

This the kind of radical nonsense that has Obama's numbers in the toilet.

Americans don't want this nonsense... WE'RE BROKE! But Obama only cares about those who vote for him... or could potentially.

Interestingly, a recent Rasmussen poll shows that 83% of Americans don't want to pay for illegal immigrants' health care bills.

Keep it up Barack, you'll lose 100 seats next year at this rate.

David said...

I agree that we are broke.

Consider what this measure will do to the economy that is already in trouble. I predict that if this junk passes we will see a situation worse than the 30's depression. Certainly our major creaditor (China) will pull out and our money will devalue.

On top of that, the energy bill will be coming down the line and that will be the cream on the cake.

Can we really hold out till the Republicans get back in? Of course their record under Bush was not much better.

david said...

sorry, lender, not creditor.

G. R. said...

We are so screwed with Obama. Only thing about this screwing is we aren't enjoying the big "O".

Remember, the Obama Presidency might not be the best screwing you'll ever have, but it will be your longest!