Denying Immigrants Health Care Is Cruel Politics

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-02/denying-immigrants-health-care-is-cruel-politics.html

As if immigration and health-care reform aren’t sufficiently daunting in their own rights, the two issues are now joined.

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would give the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. a chance to become citizens. Immigrants who meet a series of conditions would be granted provisional legal status, allowing them to work in the country legally.

The legislation would prevent those immigrants from receiving federal benefits for at least 10 years. The prohibition includes qualifying for Medicaid and getting federal subsidies to purchase health insurance.

Excluding such immigrants from government health assistance has its appeal. Although the cost of extending such benefits is hard to estimate -- the Congressional Budget Office hasn’t analyzed the issue -- it’s likely to be expensive. In addition, some critics view subsidies for immigrants as a perverse reward for breaking immigration laws.