September 2009
House Committee Defeats Ban on Illegal Aliens in Federal Health Care Legislation |
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 ontradicting the assurances from America's left-wing political leaders that illegal aliens will not be eligible for President Barack Obama's proposed "universal" healthcare coverage program under debate on Capitol Hill, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee defeated an amendment to bar illegals from receiving taxpayer-subsidized medical care.
In July the committee voted 26 to 15 along party lines to defeat the amendment from Rep. Dean Heller, R-NV, that would have blocked government-subsidized health benefits for illegal aliens. All the Democrats voted against it, all the Republicans voted for it.
Although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, pledged that "illegal immigrants are not covered" in H.R. 3200, the universal health care bill under consideration in the House, the legislation does not contain any language requiring proof of citizenship or legal residency to obtain federal health benefits. Nor are there any penalties for illegals who obtain those benefits.
Heller's 32-line amendment simply stated, "no unauthorized aliens shall be eligible for any item or service furnished under this title," and that the government "shall not provide funding ... for medical assistance provided to an individual unless such individual has been determined to be eligible for medical assistance under this title..."
The amendment would have required that any participant in the government health plan created by the bill must demonstrate eligibility through the Income and Eligibility Verification System and the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements System. It would also have stopped any illegal aliens from getting taxpayer-provided handouts to subsidize any part of private health insurance premium.
Here are the 26 members of the committee -- all Democrats -- who voted against a ban on illegal aliens from government health care, and who voted against requiring proof of eligibility to receive governent sponsored medical benefits:
Xavier Becerra (Calif.), Shelley Berkley (Nev.), Earl Blumenauer (Ore.), Joe Crowley (N.Y.), Artur Davis (Ala.), Danny Davis (Ill.), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Bob Etheridge (N.C.), Brian Higgins (N.Y.), Ron Kind (Wis.), John Larson (Conn.), Sander Levin (Mich.), John Lewis (Ga.), Jim McDermott (Wash.), Kendrick Meek (Fla.), Richard Neal (Mass.), Bill Pascrell (N.J.), Earl Pomeroy (N.D.), Chairman Charlie Rangel (N.Y.), Linda Sanchez (Calif.), Allyson Schwartz (Pa.), Pete Stark (Calif.), John Tanner (Tenn.), Mike Thompson (Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), and John Yarmuth (Ky.).
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