Illegal Alien Coverage continued...
Asked by
Senator Grassley (R-IA) about the current issue of whether or not illegal aliens
will be able to obtain subsidized health insurance in Senator Baucus' Affordable
Health Choices Act, the Congressional Budget Office was cautious but in its
answer relied on the legislative process as it had progressed.
The House and Senate bills addressed the issue; neither would give illegals access. Then the accusations shifted to insufficient verification to screen them out. This assertion is not new. The issue has been brought up by Republicans on most every bill the Democrats put to the floor since 2007 that offer some benefits to Americans. The threat of illegals feeding at the trough has been raised and shoveled to the public as yet another reason that Democrats are going to spend us into financial hell.
Senator Grassley was one of the crafters of the Baucus bill and sent a letter to the CBO looking for data on the issue.
Here is what the CBO said;
There about 14 million illegals in the country and about 8 million aren't insured. 4 million have insurance through their employers. 1 million have some insurance other than Medicaid, and about a million have access to Medicaid coverage for emergency care if they would qualify for Medicaid despite their illegal status. The CBO believes that most state agencies do a good job of screening out most ineligible Medicaid applicants. The House bill prohibits cost-sharing for illegals. The Senate bill appears to do the same. However, amendments specific to prohibiting illegal alien access to the program will continue to be offered in the House and the Senate for political purposes. ##
CBO letter to Senator Grassley
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