Repeating something does not make it true

As we have posted previously here, here and here, the proposed health care reform will not give free health care for illegal aliens. A new television ad named "Socialized Medicine" by the U.S. Citizens Association claims that health reform means that we will be forced to pay for health care for "20 million illegal aliens." Either this group has not read the proposed legislation or they are simply refusing to tell the truth.

But illegals may be able to buy insurance!

The sound and fury regarding illegal aliens and the proposed healthcare reform has morphed from “you’re giving free healthcare to illegal aliens” to “illegal aliens might be able to purchase health insurance on the government sponsored exchange!”

At issue is the proposed Health Insurance Exchange (hereinafter the “Exchange”) in proposed HR 3200. It is found in Title 2 of the bill (page 72 on the link). The Exchange is a mechanism wherein the uninsured could buy plans from insurance companies that meet certain standards and benefits. Additionally, the uninsured could get a subsidy- called an “affordable credit” to help them offset the cost of insurance.

To qualify for the subsidy, you must be an “affordable credit eligible individual.” This is further defined in Section. 242(a)(1) as:

(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this division, the term ‘‘affordable credit eligible individual’’ means, subject to subsection (b), an individual who is lawfully present in a State in the United States (other than as a nonimmigrant described in a subparagraph (excluding subparagraphs (K), (T), (U), and (V)) of section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act)…

And as repeated many times, Section 246 states:

SEC. 246. NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR
UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS.

Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.

So undocumented aliens will not be able to receive or purchase subsidized insurance under the proposed bill. An undocumented alien may be able to purchase full priced insurance on the open market or on the exchange. That is true. But how is that different from what we have today?

Keep separating the wheat from the chaff!

Healthcare and undocumented immigrants: What about EMTALA?

Photo used under Creative Commons from brykmantra.

As we have stated before, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federal welfare benefits like Medicaid. Ah ha! Some may say, what about EMTALA? EMTALA is the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services:

In 1986, Congress enacted [and President Ronald Reagan signed] the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) to ensure public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. Section 1867 of the Social Security Act imposes specific obligations on Medicare-participating hospitals that offer emergency services to provide a medical screening examination (MSE) when a request is made for examination or treatment for an emergency medical condition (EMC), including active labor, regardless of an individual's ability to pay. Hospitals are then required to provide stabilizing treatment for patients with EMCs. If a hospital is unable to stabilize a patient within its capability, or if the patient requests, an appropriate transfer should be implemented.

EMTALA also does not allow a hospital to refuse otherwise eligible emergency treatment because of someone's citizenship or immigration status. EMTALA was passed without funding, however, and states complained that it was an "unfunded govermental mandate." As a result, Congress passed the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA). The MMA does provide $250 million dollars per year to reimburse hospitals for their unrecoverable costs for emergency care to undocumented immigrants under EMTALA.

It is important to remember that EMTALA was designed to prevent "patient dumping" from private hospitals to public ones. It was not designed as immigration legislation. It was a public policy decision that Congress and President Reagan made. They did not want any patients- U.S. citizens or otherwise-to be refused emergency medical care because of an inability to pay. EMTALA does not provide health insurance for illegal immigrants. EMTALA was enacted to keep patients from dying because of they had no insurance or money to pay for treatment.

So if both Joe Illegal and Joe Citizen are in a car wreck and need emergency care, the hospital is not going to let them die in the waiting room while they verify their immigration status and credit rating. It is correct to say that there are costs associated with EMTALA but according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, all immigrants, including the undocumented, were less likely to visit the emergency room of a hospital than their citizen counterparts.

So once again, please remember that illegal immigrants are not eligible for federal welfare benefits. All people in the United States, regardless of immigration status, are covered under EMTALA.