US aims for better benefits, medical care for illegals

Part 1 in a series on immigration
By Kay B. Day

A CBO border patrol agent pats down a suspect prior to returning him to Mexico. Curiously, CBO recently announced that in a case unrelated to this photo, the Brownsville office (Tex.) recently intercepted a shipment of thousands of scorpions and ants.[Photo by Gerald L. Nino, US Customs and Border Protection.]Democrats have garnered votes from advocacy groups who want no restrictions on immigration, and proposals from the Dept. of Homeland Security may somewhat satisfy those advocacy groups and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union. The Los Angeles Times said DHS secretary Janet Napolitano plans for the department “to create a system to better identify medical and mental health issues and to help manage care.” The Times summed up the approach: “Nonviolent immigrant detainees could be held in converted hotels, nursing homes or placed in electronic ankle bracelets for monitoring as part of a series of reforms planned for the nation's detention system…”

The system, says the paper, deals with approximately 32,000 “detainees” daily and conditions have been criticized as “inhumane.”

Advocacy groups also want the government “to make detention standards legally binding so immigrants can have family visits, recreation time and legal materials.”

The open border policy the US has practiced for many years creates challenges for education, healthcare, national security and communities. Various federal agencies have tried to assess the impact in terms of funding, but it is often hard to obtain a viable population count because those who enter the US illegally often shy away from any involvement with the government. That of course is common sense—if one breaks the law, he does not want involvement with law enforcement or Census workers, for that matter.

After Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asked for additional information about health insurance coverage in relation to healthcare legislation underway in the Senate Finance Committee, the Congressional Budget office appeared flummoxed. CBO said,

“Under current law, CBO projects that the nonelderly unauthorized immigrant population will total about 14 million in 2019. Of those individuals, nearly 60 percent (about 8 million) will be uninsured. A further 25 percent (about 4 million) will have employment-based coverage, and about 7 percent (1 million) will have some alternative form of insurance (other than Medicaid). The remaining 10 percent (about 1 million) will make use of some Medicaid coverage, reflecting the current law that allows unauthorized immigrants—who are not eligible for full Medicaid benefits—to receive limited Medicaid coverage for emergency care if they would be eligible for the program apart from their unauthorized status. The number using Medicaid may also include some unauthorized immigrants who manage to obtain full Medicaid coverage even though they do not qualify for it; however, we believe that state agencies administering the Medicaid program successfully screen out most ineligible individuals.”

It is of course impossible to determine whether states “successfully screen out most ineligible individuals.” Because the House bill, HR 3200, relies entirely on self-verification, it stands to reason we have an unquantifiable set of consequences where illegal immigrants are concerned.

The Washington Times called it “Backdoor insurance for illegals,” practiced at present and as it now stands, applicable to the future.

A spokesperson with the ACLU is pleased with the administration’s new approach, but the neoliberal group also “expressed concern that healthcare in detention centers would remain inadequate and that nonemergency services would still be denied.”

 At present the detention, care and processing of illegal immigrants is underwritten by the American taxpayer, and it is probable that this approach and the highest rate of federal spending in American history will lead to a tax increase that will impact far more than the top income quintiles.

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