Sanchez: When in doubt, blame the illegal immigrants

By Mary Sanchez

God bless Joe Wilson, the Republican congressman from South Carolina. He was acting the clown Wednesday when he heckled President Barack Obama, but out of his foolishness perhaps a lesson might be learned.

“You lie!” Wilson cried when Obama sought to dispel the notion that the proposed health care legislation would extend insurance coverage to illegal immigrants at taxpayer's expense. Who's telling the truth here? Let's look at the language of the bill: “Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.” In other words, no federal funds will be spent to subsidize the insurance of anybody in this country illegally. Federal funds will go to emergency medical services, and those services will be available to the undocumented, but they already are.

Wilson's outburst was a red herring, and we should count on Republicans to inject their loathing of illegal immigrants into every reform measure taken up by the White House. But to give Wilson his due, millions of illegal immigrants will remain uninsured - and the rest of us will continue to bear some of the cost of the health care they receive. So how do we change that? Here's a two-word answer: immigration reform.

There are two basic options for dealing with illegal immigrants who are here: Commit to finding all of them and deporting them, or provide them a path to citizenship. One of those options is never going to happen, because it's practically impossible. The other is unlikely because it will carry a political death sentence for many who dare to support it. What are the costs of doing nothing? To the undocumented, they are heavy. Consider what would happen under Obama's health care plan.

Illegal immigrants would not qualify for any “public option” or subsidized insurance, yet they would be subject to fines for not being insured under other sections of the law. Because they are not eligible for federal subsidies, if they did purchase insurance, it would be at the highest rates. Those are the rates that even many middle-class people cannot afford.

Many Republicans - and some Democrats - have supported amendments that would force agencies to do checks to make sure illegal immigrants aren't taking advantage of federal health benefits or subsidies. It turns out that this has been tried, and it's a fiscal boondoggle. In 2007, a House committee looked at six states' efforts to increase verification procedures on those receiving Medicaid. The cost of these programs amounted to $8.3 million. How many illegal immigrant claimants were busted? Eight.

There is a widespread perception that illegal immigrants are living off the public dole.

The truth, however, is closer to the opposite. An estimated three-quarters of illegal immigrants who work have federal deductions withheld from their pay. The Social Security Administration estimated that in 2002 alone, illegal people paid between

$6 billion and $7 billion in payroll deductions for Social Security and another $1.5 billion for Medicare. That's money the government is eager to receive, as it offsets the retiring baby boomers ebbing contributions. And now Congress is proposing to fine them for not having health insurance, while not allowing them access to affordable insurance. It seems Wilson isn't

the only fool in this

farce.

n Contact the writer:

msanchez@kcstar.com