Want Medicaid? Be a Citizen, Not an Illegal

My friend Holly sent me this bit of news. New law becomes effective today; Medicaid recipients required to provide proof of citizenship (See below my comments for the story) I have mixed feelings, but in the end, I don’t think this is the right move for our government. On the one hand we don’t want to “give” medical help to the poor who are not citizens, but at the same time our country doesn’t do much to prevent people from coming here to provide cheap labor. 

Also, I recently heard a statistic that many illegal immigrants actually pay a lot of taxes. Here is how that works. Most illegals will use a fake Social Security number to get low paying jobs. Or they will apply for a Tax Id so they can get driver’s licenses, etc. The employer, in a typical wink and nod fashion, says, “Ok, you have a Social Security #, you MUST be legal.” Then the employer does the standard state and federal withholding to “prove” that they “thought” the employee was legal. The employee gets a W-2 at the end of the year. The employee/illegal usually never files a tax return, and they never get a tax refund. Thus, millions of “unclaimed” dollars flow into the Federal Reserve that probably would not be there if the workers were naturalized and were scurrying to H&R Block for their “tax refund loan” at the annualized interest rate of 98%. (A subject for another day!) 

Medicaid, is, of course, funded with tax dollars as is Medicare, which has it’s own separate tax right on the W-2. So, in many instances, these “illegals” are absolutely paying for their right to receive Medicaid. 

Finally, people get sick whether they have health benefits or not. Hospitals are not allowed to refuse treatment to very sick people in the ER. So by denying Medicaid benefits, the federal government is simply passing the buck on to private and state local hospitals, who will, in turn, pass the buck to consumers. Also, by denying Medicaid, which will pay for “well” visits and pregnancy care, when people do come to the ER they will be sicker and the treatment will be costlier. In the end, this will “cost” as much as it supposedly saves, I think.

I think this is classic penny wise-pound foolish thinking and is more motivated by politics than good sense. Not to mention, we are a wealthy nation, we can afford to take care of the poor. Especially when they are the ones doing the dirty work.

New law becomes effective today; Medicaid recipients required to provide proof of citizenship

By James Romoser

JOURNAL REPORTER

Friday, September 1, 2006

Starting today, people in North Carolina who are on Medicaid will have to prove that they are U.S. citizens, or they will risk losing their health-care coverage.

The new documentation requirements are part of a federal law intended to prevent illegal immigrants from getting health benefits through Medicaid, the government-run health-insurance program for the poor.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the law will save the federal government $735 million over 10 years.

But local Medicaid officials and some national health-care advocates say the new rules are too strict and mostly unnecessary. There is not a widespread problem of illegal immigrants getting Medicaid, they say. Some critics worry that the rules will hurt Medicaid recipients who are citizens but for some reason are unable to produce a passport, an original birth certificate or other required documents.

The rules will further complicate a process that is already strenuous for both Medicaid applicants and social-services caseworkers.

“You can basically get a million-dollar mortgage easier than you can get Medicaid,” said Joe Raymond, Forsyth County’s director of social services. Medicaid, a federal program, is run mostly by the states and is administered at the local level through county social-services departments. Applicants must meet income requirements and other eligibility criteria.

READ the full story here.

Chris Nichols
www.NicholsTrialLaw.com