April 20th, 2011 by BobDoherty in Health Policy, Opinion
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According to some state legislators, the answer is yes. Lawmakers in South Carolina are pushing legislation that would “make it illegal to transport immigrants anywhere, including a hospital” reports the New York Times. Fox News Phoenix reports that in Arizona, a bill has been introduced to “require hospitals, when admitting nonemergency cases, to confirm that a person seeking care is a U.S. citizen or in the country legally. In emergency cases where the patient isn’t here legally, the hospital would be required to call immigration authorities after the treatment is done. Hospitals in non-emergency situations would also be required to contact federal immigration authorities, but they would have more apparent discretion about whether to treat illegal immigrants.”
Such ill-advised efforts by states to criminalize health care for undocumented persons has led the American College of Physicians, the nation’s second largest physician organization, to speak out against “Any law that might require physicians to share confidential information, such as citizenship status to the authorities, that was gained through the patient–physician relationship conflicts with the ethical and professional duties of physicians.” ACP made this statement in a new position paper on immigrants’ access to health care released yesterday at its annual scientific meeting in San Diego, California. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty*
January 16th, 2011 by Linda Burke-Galloway, M.D. in Health Policy, Opinion
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When the Nebraska lawmakers voted to end Medicaid prenatal care for approximately 1,500 women, their unborn babies paid the ultimate price.
Any labor room hospitalist who is responsible for the care of unassigned pregnant women will tell you that it is far easier to take care of pregnant women who have had prenatal care than it is to take care of women who haven’t. The recent vigil of the Equality Nebraska Coalition in front of their state capitol to honor five dead babies whose death can be related to the lack of access to prenatal care speaks volumes.
On or about February of 2010, Nebraska expectant mothers received a “Dear John” letter from Nebraska’s Health and Human Services stating that their pregnancies were no longer covered under Medicaid. It appeared that the rationale for making such a drastic decision involved a resistance of state politicians to pay for medical services of “illegal immigrants.”
However, when one reads the comments on a popular website called Baby Center.com, the pregnant women who were affected were U.S. citizens who were college students, wives of husbands who had lost their medical insurance, and unemployed women. Eventually all the women were able to receive government-sponsored healthcare coverage, but the panic preceding their reinstatement was palpable. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Linda Burke-Galloway*
September 7th, 2009 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Health Tips
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“I don’t know what could be more clear,” said Representative Bruce Braley, Democrat of Iowa, who has read aloud from a section of the House bill with the title “No Federal Payments for Undocumented Aliens.”
“Heath Care Debate Revives Immigration Battle,”
New York Times, 6 Sep 2009
From House Bill 3200, page 143:
SEC. 246. NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED
4 ALIENS.
5 Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments
6 for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are
7 not lawfully present in the United States.
* * *
Taxpayers are concerned whether they will have to foot the bill for illegal aliens in the upcoming health care bill. Many ask good questions, like how will health care workers know who’s an illegal alien? If they are included, how will it be paid for? These are important questions that we would hope could be dealt with squarely, openly and with full transparency.
But this is a sensitive topic for Congressmen interested in securing reelection.
During the summer recess, many Congressmen were barraged by questions to this effect. So it was interesting reading this New York Times piece this morning on whether illegal aliens will be covered under the new health care plan before Congress. On one hand we have Congressmen placating his constituents by assuring voters that “I don’t know how it could be more clear” as they suggest taxpayers will not fund illegal aliens, but careful inspection discloses that illegal aliens will just not be eligible for federal subsidies to reduce their payments for federally-supplied health insurance.
But from here, it gets even more byzantine:
… the report finds that the House bill would not prohibit illegal immigrants from enrolling in a health insurance exchange. The exchange would allow participants to buy coverage from one of several plans, including a public option offered by the federal government.
At the same time, illegal immigrants would not be exempt from the obligations in the House bill. According to the research service, most illegal immigrants in the country would be required to buy health insurance or face tax penalties.
And since they would be barred from subsidies, they would have to pay for coverage at full rates, regardless of their income level.
So here we have illegal aliens, already strapped for cash, paying their “full payment” and if they don’t, the tax man will come after them (which is confusing to me, because I didn’t know that illegal aliens pay taxes).
So what is wrong with the public? How could they possibly be confused?
Here’s a thought: the only real way out of these shameful machinations is to deal with the immigration and health care issue separately, incrementally, and without this shell game. Doesn’t the American public deserve a more thorough discussion of this issue, rather than shoving it in to our upcoming health care legislation?
My personal sense of it is that such an issue will never be decided at the Emergency Room door. Rather, it is part of a systemic immigration control and reform question that involves our borders, employee verification, and a decision about existing illegal immigrants.
What we’re observing instead, is a Congress is too scared to deal with this issue honestly.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*