Ignoring language in bills, Dick Morris repeatedly claims health reform plans will cover "illegal immigrants"
Fox News contributor Dick Morris has repeatedly claimed that Democratic plans for health care reform will cover "illegal immigrants" while denying medical care to American citizens, particularly the elderly. However, both the House tri-committee bill and the Senate HELP committee bill explicitly prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving federal payments to purchase insurance.
Morris repeatedly claims reform will result in care for "illegal immigrants" while denying it to elderly
Morris: "[Y]ou can't have the surgery because we have to give it to a 40-year-old illegal immigrant instead." Morris stated on Fox News' Hannity that "whether they fund the grief counselor or the end-of-life counselor or not, the rationing will take place when they tell you, no, you can't have the surgery because we have to give it to a 40-year-old illegal immigrant instead." [Hannity, 8/17/09]
Morris: "Obamacare" would extend full coverage to "illegal immigrants." Morris and Eileen McGann wrote that health care reform plans "would cut care to the elderly," in part because "[e]xpanding the patient load by extending full coverage to 50 million Americans (including such 'Americans' as illegal immigrants) without boosting the supply of care will force rationing decisions on harried and overworked doctors and hospitals." [New York Post, 8/17/09]
Morris: "[T]hey're going to cover illegal immigrants." On Hannity, Morris claimed that under the Democrats' health care reform bills, "they're going to cover illegal immigrants," without noting that the legislation prohibits federal payments for undocumented immigrants. [Hannity, 8/3/09]
Morris: "This thing essentially takes care from the elderly and gives it to immigrants." Morris stated on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor that illegal immigrants "are going to get covered under this thing." He added that "[t]his thing essentially takes care from the elderly and gives it to immigrants. ... Because if you're going to ration medical care, who's not going to get the hip replacement, the 40-year-old or the 80-year-old?" [The O'Reilly Factor, 7/22/09]
Morris: Under health reform plan, services will be denied to the elderly, "going instead to immigrants -- legal and not." Morris and McGann wrote that under "[t]he Obama plan" the elderly will be harmed by "rationing." Morris and McGann further wrote, "And if the bill passes? The howls of protest from the elderly the first time they're denied care will be something to behold. It will become evident that the health-care resources being denied to the elderly are going instead to immigrants -- legal and not. The anger will be enormous and instant." [New York Post, 7/21/09]
Reform bills in the House and Senate explicitly prohibit federal subsidies for undocumented immigrants
House bill stipulates that those "not lawfully present" may not receive subsidies to purchase insurance. Under the "Individual Affordability Credits" section of the America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009:
SEC. 242. AFFORDABLE CREDIT ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.
(a) DEFINITION. --
(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) --
[...]
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.
Senate HELP bill excludes those "not lawfully present" from federal funding. Under the "Making Coverage Affordable" section of the Affordable Health Choices Act:
''(h) NO FEDERAL FUNDING. -- Nothing in this Act shall allow Federal payments for individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.
Media conservatives have a habit of falsely invoking undocumented immigrants to attack legislation
Numerous conservatives falsely claimed stimulus bill gave tax breaks to undocumented immigrants. Conservative media figures and outlets including Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, the Drudge Report, Lou Dobbs, and The Washington Times advanced the false claim that the stimulus bill allowed tax rebate checks to be paid to undocumented immigrants without Social Security numbers. In fact, the legislation disqualifies "nonresident alien[s]" and bars anyone without "a social security number issued to an individual by the Social Security Administration" from eligibility for Making Work Pay tax credits.
Conservative media consistently scapegoat undocumented immigrants. A Media Matters for America report showed that in coverage of major news stories, conservative media figures have repeatedly fallen back on the bogeyman of undocumented immigrants -- frequently blaming them for national crises or accusing them of receiving undeserved benefits from the government.
Transcripts
From the August 17 edition of Fox News' Hannity:
HANNITY: Let me ask this, because the Dems dropped -- they're talking about dropping the public option. I agree with you that that's very deceptive -- we'll get into that in a minute. But, for example, ratting out their neighbors, the death panels they've gotten rid of. They've really pulled back -- go ahead.
MORRIS: Yeah. But the death panels are not gotten rid of. There never was a panel that's going to say "die." What --
HANNITY: The provision -- 420 -- on page 425 of the House bill.
MORRIS: Yeah, all that provides is for counseling, which isn't a bad idea. The point about these death panels is that if you restrict the amount -- the lifesaving surgeries, and you tell someone, no, you can't have that bypass surgery -- but I'm going to die if I don't have it. Well, here's the grief counselor.
That will happen. And whether they fund the grief counselor or the end-of-life counselor or not, the rationing will take place when they tell you, no, you can't have the surgery because we have to give it to a 40-year-old illegal immigrant instead.
[...]
MORRIS: The only profound thing Kathleen Sebelius has said in her entire life, which she said on Sunday, this is not an essential element of the program. It's the rationing and the cutting of care to the elderly that is the essential element of the program.
This program is a device to take medical care from the elderly and give it to largely immigrants.
HANNITY: All right. Dick, good to see you. Thanks for being with us. Appreciate it.
From the August 17 New York Post op-ed by Morris and McGann:
"Reform" would cut care to the elderly in several ways:
* Slash hundreds of billions from Medicare spending, largely by lowering reimbursement rates to doctors and hospitals for patient care.
If a hospital gets less money for each MRI, it will do fewer of them. If a surgeon gets paid less for a heart bypass on a Medicare patient, he'll perform them more rarely. These facts of the marketplace are not only inevitable consequences of Obama's cuts but are also its intended consequence. Without them, his savings will prove illusory.
* Expanding the patient load by extending full coverage to 50 million Americans (including such "Americans" as illegal immigrants) without boosting the supply of care will force rationing decisions on harried and overworked doctors and hospitals.
People with insurance use a lot more health-care resources -- so today's facilities and personnel will have to cope with the increased workload. Busy surgeons will have to decide who would benefit most from their treatment -- de facto rationing. The elderly will, inevitably, be the losers.
From the August 3 edition of Fox News' Hannity:
MORRIS: There's one fundamental question: How do you cover 50 million new people without any new doctors?
HANNITY: Well, I dispute the 50 million number for a lot of different reasons that you and I have discussed --
MORRIS: Right.
HANNITY: -- in the past. First of all, we don't have 50 million people --
MORRIS: Yeah.
HANNITY: -- many of them are short-term, a lot of them include illegal immigrants.
MORRIS: Right.
HANNITY: You chronicle a lot of this in your book.
MORRIS: But they're going to cover illegal immigrants.
HANNITY: But so that would add to the figure unnecessarily.
MORRIS: Yeah. Exactly.
From the July 22 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: Now some conservatives, on the radio particularly, don't want any intrusion into the health care system. They say leave it alone. That's insane.
MORRIS: Well --
O'REILLY: You've got to do something.
MORRIS: Well, first of all, Bill, there are 50 million uninsured people. OK?
O'REILLY: Right.
MORRIS: Ten million are illegal immigrants --
O'REILLY: Right.
MORRIS: -- who are going to get covered under this thing. This thing essentially takes care from the elderly and gives it to immigrants.
O'REILLY: Why does it take care from the elderly?
MORRIS: Because if you're going to ration medical care, who's not going to get the hip replacement, the 40-year-old or the 80-year-old?
O'REILLY: OK. So if you're old you won't get it, because some younger person who might be illegal would get it.
From the July 21 New York Post op-ed by Morris and McGann:
The Obama plan effectively repeals Medicare, putting a Federal Health Board between the elderly and their doctors. This board will instruct public and private insurance carriers on what procedures are to be approved, at what cost and for what patients.
The bulk of this rationing will fall on the elderly. We'll have to revisit the idea that the elderly have, in the words of former Colorado Gov. Dick Lamm, "a duty to die."
The more word gets out about what the bill contemplates, the firmer opposition will grow. That's why Obama wants to push it through now, while he retains some popularity.
And if the bill passes? The howls of protest from the elderly the first time they're denied care will be something to behold. It will become evident that the health-care resources being denied to the elderly are going instead to immigrants -- legal and not. The anger will be enormous and instant.
Bill does not cover illegal immigrants
Because of that, I will just ignore the actual details and make stuff up as I go along.
Which is a facade for protecting the exorbitantly profitable business of skimming health care premium dollars while denying benefits, which of course leads to more money for politicians and the lobbyists who keep them in line.
The draft House bill Section 202 of this creates a Health Insurance Exchange (exchange) and states that "all individuals are eligible to obtain coverage" through the exchange.
Under Section 242, Subsection (d) states that the affordability credits "shall not be treated [as] a benefit provided under section 403" of the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. Under Welfare Reform, legal aliens are generally required to wait five years before becoming eligible for welfare or other taxpayer funded benefits. The House health reform bill eliminates that 5-year waiting period for legal aliens as applied to taxpayer financed health insurance subsidies, such as the affordability credit.
Accordingly, legal aliens will become immediately eligible for this government handout — a handout that would be paid for by the American taxpayers.
Given the bill's language, illegal aliens are also likely to qualify for the affordability credit. This is true because there are no provisions that would prevent an illegal alien from participating in the exchange or from receiving the credit. Likewise, there are no requirements that a government agency verify eligibility,.
Accordingly, without these important safeguards, illegal aliens would probably receive this subsidy. The bill does limit eligibility to individuals who are "lawfully present in a State in the United States," but that language would be ineffective to prevent handouts to illegal aliens. (Sec. 242(a)(1)). Under U.S. immigration law, someone's status as an illegal alien is not determined by lawful presence in a State. As a result, this language will have no effect in preventing illegal aliens from receiving the credit.
see:
http://www.fairus.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=20995&security=1601&news_iv_ctrl=1721#1
Of course I read it silly. What you seem to have misread or you are ignoring, is the fact that there is nothing in the 1,000+ page bill to check that those participating in the exchange or receiving credits are legal aliens or citizens.
Unless there is a verification process, the bill effectively allows illegals to again break the law and get government sponsored health care.
It is similar in spirit to those "sanctuary" cities who ignore federal law.
It is not too far fetched to believe the new patronage jobs created by this legislation that bureaucrats will be inclined to look the other way.
Why?
Nothing in the bill that says illegal immigrants would be able to get health care coverage.
AA is wrong, again.
I do not understand your objection. My original note points out the parts of the bill that backs up my original point that the loopholes in the bill will allow illegal immigrants to effectively use this program. You may not like it, but it is there. I invite you to go read the link if you are looking for further documentation.
Simply whining about my post really doesn't make for a good argument on your part.
No it didn't it was opinion and it was talking about legal aliens.
Do you honestly think that the government would not have a verification process for benefits and other such things specified as being exempted from illegal aliens? Do you not think that an individual would have to supply such things as proof of identity, residence, and citizenry in order to apply for such benefits? You seem to claim that the mere fact that the bill does not spell out line-for-line an application or verification process means that there very well could not be one, even though that would be ludicrous. Committees are specifically established to oversee and create guidelines for such specific matters as these, and obviously if the bill explicitly forbids illegals to apply for certain perks, such processes adopted would include measures to ensure an applicant's citizenry so as to conform to the language present in the bill. According to your logic, if the bill features no language or plans specifically to prevent people from, say, applying multiple times for benefits, then therefore there will be no enforcement and it will be allowed to happen, which is something that obviously would not be allowed.
Legal Aliens don't work or pay any taxes? Only Americans work and pay taxes?
"illegal aliens are also likely to qualify"
"illegal aliens would probably receive this subsidy"
"Likely"... "probably"... Whoever did this analysis doesn't know for sure, and neither do you.
The point that was made that legal aliens are eligible and there is no verification procedure to determine who is legal and who isn't.
You are correct that it is all hypothetical right now because there really isn't a law yet and and there is no national health insurance.
Once again, this is a loophole the Democrats have left in the crafting of this legislation legislation. What would be the harm of closing the loophole by requiring verification by legal aliens and citizens?
Are you in favor of illegal immigrants having full national insurance coverage?
The Border Patrol and INS have been making this kind of determination since their existence. Do they not have applicable procedures?
"Are you in favor of illegal immigrants having full national insurance coverage?"
No, I'm not. That's why I'm glad the proposed bill denies it.
It's easy to verify who is, and who is not a legal alien in the United States. ICE has been doing it for years (as Pete said below). And the mechanisms would be put into place so that this would happen.
More scare tactics from your side. Ooga booga, illegal aliens "MIGHT" get free health care.
Since it is such a high profile objection, why isn't the exact wording in the bill to eliminate any doubt? Why not get rid of the wiggle room and spell it out clearly for doubters?
Just like Obama's actual birth certificate, it really shouldn't be a problem to produce it, but by not putting it out there, it creates much doubt. Especially since Obama and the Democrats wanted to ram this bill through without giving people a chance to read it.
But it is not there, and it is a legitimate issue.
suppositions that require interpretation.
Here's a hint : You won't find it, because it's not in there!
Just because someone says there are no provisions in the bill doesn't mean it is so. Point out the language!
For example, in many states, it is illegal to ask for proof of citizenship to be eligible for public housing, so Ipso Facto - illegal immigrants probably will be covered or at the very least, receive these credits.
Just a thought to ponder
I am not so selfish as to deny care to someone whose kids or parents are sick because of politics. I have no children, but I don't mind paying school taxes because educated citizens are good for everyone.
The same is true of healthcare. Wellness plans and the ability to see a doctor before one is faced with catastrophic disease is cheaper for everyone, and well worth the expense. People who aren't citizens get the same health care as citizens when they go abroad, the same should be true here. The ones screaming the loudest against healthcare for all are the ones who don't want brown people receiving the same treatment as their lily-white family members.
Your opinion regarding preventive costs are not shared by Douglas W. Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office. It's all in the numbers of people who partake in the preventive tests. It definitely be cheaper for the individual but not society. Those costs for applying those tests for 300 million people for various illnesses add up to more than treating the individuals who do get sick. See
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/congressional-budget-expert-says-preventive-care-will-raise-not-cut-costs.html
I am in favor of wellness plans, who isn't? That would decrease costs for everyone, but are you going to enforce it be penalizing those who do not meet the goals of the wellness plan?
ps. Your race card is played out.