Illegals and Health Care: A Reality Check

Once again, everyone is simplifying the arguments, and once again, everyone is wrong.

The opponents of health care reform are bleating that the Obama plan would grant coverage to illegal aliens, the clear implication being that this would be something new that they do not already have.

Health care reform advocates counter that there's nothing in the bill to give health care to illegal immigrants, the clear implication being that no illegal will be treated on the dime of U.S. taxpayers.

Both implications are false (well, depending on the final plan, of course).

The opponents' claims are false because right now, our emergency rooms are mandated to treat anyone who comes through the door, regardless of ability to pay (insured or not). Are you willing to bet any money that illegals don't know this and aren't bothering to go to the hospital when sick or injured?

Which means that it's a meaningless bogeyman. If illegals manage to slip through under the new health care system, it just replaces the way they slip through under the current system. Yes, perhaps the new system may not make things any better in this regard, but it's clearly disingenuous to argue against repairing a hole in a boat with a non-working motor on the grounds that after the repair, the boat's motor won't work. A change in plan which fixes something and leaves the rest essentially the same is a good change.

Now, as to the proponents claims, it's harder to tell how false they are, because the final plan hasn't been written, but let's assume the absolute worst case scenario (as presented by the opponents), a fully socialized medicine system. If I go to Canada, or England, or France, or Germany, and I break my arm, the hospital doesn't (as I understand it) demand to see my papers before they will treat me. The system is set up to be available to people who need it, and so if I show up, I can use it.

I'm inclined to guess that a socialized system in this country wouldn't be set up to demand passports or other serious documentation of a patient's citizenship before treating them, especially not in the case of emergency treatment.

Now, since a "single payer" (aka "socialized") system isn't even on the table right now, it's possible that proponents are actually correct in this one, that by making health care reform by way of a "public insurance option", we might actually PREVENT some illegals from obtaining care, IF insurance becomes universal for citizens, and IF the law requiring emergency rooms to treat everyone is repealed, and IF in order to buy insurance (or at least, to get subsidies for insurance), proof of citizenship is required.

In that case, only those illegals who have convincingly forged papers would still be treated, but let's be honest: forged papers aren't something we're going to take care of now or ever, certainly not as part of a health care bill.

So the truth is that yes, some people in this country illegally WILL get health care, some of which WILL be subsidized by the taxpayer (either through taxes or through higher medical costs, which in turn raises their insurance premiums, etc), but that this situation already exists, so to present it as something the plan will GIVE to illegals is wrong.

Liam.