fly at night

Congressman Joe Wilson’s outburst at last Wednesday’s joint session of congress was unacceptable. That fact, however, does not permit the proponents of health care (health insurance?) reform to present their own spin on the facts.

E.J. Dionne writes:

“There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false. The reforms — the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”

In fact, President Obama has not presented “his plan” to the public. Since there are three, four, or five plans out there are they all his? Of course not.

The public has had access to HR 3200 and that is what they are talking about. On the issue of illegal aliens receiving health care the Republicans have attempted to pass two amendments that would strengthen the bills language so that the writers of the Regulations (the folks that you will really want to watch) could not misinterpret congressional intent.

The AP did a fact check on this issue and sided with the President.

THE FACTS: The facts back up Obama. The House version of the health care bill explicitly prohibits spending any federal money to help illegal immigrants get health care coverage. Illegal immigrants could buy private health insurance, as many do now, but wouldn’t get tax subsidies to help them. Still, Republicans say there are not sufficient citizenship verification requirements to ensure illegal immigrants are excluded from benefits they are not due.

This is all well and good but the Congressional Research Service (the folks who analyze the bills so that members don’t have to read them) disagrees with the AP. Here is an excerpt of page 4 with emphasis added:

Under H.R. 3200, all legal permanent residents (LPRs),23 nonimmigrants, and unauthorized aliens who meet the substantial presence test (defined above) would be required to obtain health insurance. Noncitizens meeting the definition of nonresident aliens (e.g., temporary visitors, temporary workers in the United States for less than 183 days in the year) would not be required to obtain health insurance. Notably, the IRC does not contain special rules for individuals who are in the United States without authorization (i.e., illegal or unauthorized aliens). Instead, the IRC treats these individuals in the same manner as other foreign nationals—an unauthorized individual who has been in the United States long enough to qualify under the substantial presence test is classified as a resident alien; otherwise, the individual is classified as a nonresident alien. Thus, it would appear that unauthorized aliens who meet the substantial presence test would be required under H.R. 3200 to have health insurance.

Apparently Mr. Obama recognized a disconnect between his statements and HR 3200. MSNBC reports the following:

The question, as we all know, arises from the Wilson “You lie” outburst, and the core claim that notwithstanding specific bill language barring illegal immigrants from participating in the “exchange,” as a practical matter, there is no way of verifying the citizenship of applicants — which is the current state of play. Republicans say that then means illegal immigrants would end up being enrolled in plans — bill language or no bill language.

Today, for the first time as far as we know, the administration is backing a provision that would require proof of citizenship before someone could enroll in a plan selected on the exchange.

Here, the administration also concedes that hospitals would be compensated with public funds for the care of undocumented immigrants.

In short, both sides of this debate have to be careful in making definitive statements. It is important to get the bill correct because the writers of the Regulations will have the ability to write far reaching requirements beyond the bill. Can’t happen? I spent 20 years interpreting legislation and then arguing with the writers of the regulations regarding legislative intent. Be careful as this bill could become the world’s largest HMO with bureaucrats, not insurance companies, denying coverage because the program is over budget.