Hillary’s camp on whether her health care plan will cover illegals: We’ll get back to you
posted at 8:09 pm on September 17, 2007 by Allahpundit
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Lonewacko wonders whether “health care for all Americans” already means “health care for all who reside in America, legally or not” or whether we’ll have to wait a bit yet for that Orwellian maneuver. Answer: Not yet. But soon, soon.
Senior [Clinton] policy adviser Laurie Rubiner–-while acknowledging that undocumented immigrants are a “huge issue” in this country–-said, “That’s one we’re going to have to think through a little bit.”
“We have not dealt with every single detail with this plan,” Rubiner continued.
Translation: We’re not sure yet how the majority comes down on that point and want to feel them out. A day doesn’t pass lately, though, that doesn’t include a few new warnings from the media that the GOP’s reluctance to effectively dissolve the country’s borders is costing them big time among Latino voters. The Democrats won’t want to squander that advantage by withholding “free” health care from the “undocumented”; why, to do so would be downright nativist. Never mind the cost:
[Senator Joe] Lieberman, I-Conn., convened a panel of experts at the state Legislative Office Building to discuss health care problems facing the state and the nation, including rising medical costs and increasing numbers of people without health insurance…
Another issue is high cost of treating uninsured people, including illegal immigrants, at hospital emergency rooms.
Lieberman said millions of uninsured people use emergency rooms as their primary source of health care and often can’t pay the hospital bills. He said that uncompensated care costs the health care system $35 billion a year, and results in increases in insurance premiums and taxes.
Dr. Rebecca Brienza, medical director for Norwalk Community Health Center, said she has seen a dramatic increase in the number of illegal immigrants in recent years.
‘We do not get any revenue from undocumented patients,’ she said.
I wonder how the left will solve the problem of illegals taking health care services out of the system without having to pay into it. Let me guess: by legalizing them?
Exit question one: How do you suppose the pro-amnesty yet anti-socialist Wall Street Journal will come down on this very predictable consequence of their open-borders policy? Exit question two: How exactly does the Clinton camp announce their nation-saving health care plan with no provision whatsoever for 12 to 20 million people riding a political hot potato?
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Uh, doy!
Weebork on September 17, 2007 at 8:10 PM
Of course you don’t want details. The election is still a year away.
JellyToast on September 17, 2007 at 8:10 PM
Pssst, Hillary. It’s not that hard. The answer should be NO!
Mallard T. Drake on September 17, 2007 at 8:12 PM
Exit question one:
A: Easy, they applaud the one and denounce the other.
Exit question two:
A: Mentioning the illegals isn’t PC and therefore discussion on the issue is verboten.
Mitt, a day early, had Hillary’s government health care plan nailed for exactly what it is. Socialized medicine.
csdeven on September 17, 2007 at 8:19 PM
Yeah, the WSJ hit that point again the other day. Nothing new or really worth responding to.
see-dubya on September 17, 2007 at 8:20 PM
I can’t stand this crap any longer. These a-holes are destroying this country for the sake of votes and power. Politics has always been politics … but this has gotten out of hand. A little revolution now and then is a healthy thing. Clean out the dead wood.
darwin on September 17, 2007 at 8:24 PM
We must not let her win.Period.This single maneuver would destroy America as we know it in one fell swoop.
We must not let her win.
bbz123 on September 17, 2007 at 8:27 PM
They aren’t a net contributor to the economy? I was certain hosptials would go out of buisness without illegal patrons. I think I can speak for the WSJ and say they are shocked by this revalation.
Resolute on September 17, 2007 at 8:27 PM
I’m actually more concerned about the other details of her heath care plan, based on what I’ve heard. Covering illegals is only a small additional problem for a plan that will eliminate market forces in heath care almost entirely.
Big S on September 17, 2007 at 8:30 PM
Once again, I have to point out that I’m Latino, but I have to pay for my healthcare. Pandering to a crowd that can’t legally vote (wink, wink) to win other those who support illegal aliens and who do vote is totally screwed up.
Who’s looking out for the interests of Americans? You know, we taxpayers, voters, and true builders of this economy?
Clinton is a danger to this country. She must be stopped.
madmonkphotog on September 17, 2007 at 8:32 PM
They can’t answer because…”no one is illegal”.
That’s their battle cry.
right2bright on September 17, 2007 at 8:37 PM
So if uninsured Americans are going to the hospital at a cost of $35 billion a year, why not just have the government pick up that tab rather than $110 billion ala Hillarycare? Consider them covered, end of discussion.
Pam on September 17, 2007 at 8:46 PM
I hope most, if not all Latinos feel the same way.
darwin on September 17, 2007 at 8:52 PM
It’s not about covering children, or taking care of the uninsured. They aren’t stupid…they already know that medical savings accounts work.
It’s all about control…in this case it’s control over life and death; who lives and who dies. Freedom to choose good medical care will be the first casualty. After that, it’s academic.
Asher on September 17, 2007 at 8:52 PM
Bill is on the balcony,his finger is wet,when he gets
the wind(poll numbers)direction,he will get back to
Hillary.
canopfor on September 17, 2007 at 8:53 PM
Hillary needs to be Swift-Boated. Maybe it’s too early in the campaign to play hardball ( please pardon the expression ), but it has to happen. Surely this woman has made plenty of enemies.
Dork B. on September 17, 2007 at 8:54 PM
My husband does.
StephC on September 17, 2007 at 8:55 PM
.
They do…….NOTHING. ( biz as usual)
All of the illegals receive free health care NOW. Sniffles? go to the E.R., cough? go to the ER. Any problem at all, go to the ER. ( except for contagious diseases, those they hide under their fingernails and spread around to others)
She can wait it out. If shillary never appears on Fox, she may never even be asked.
shooter on September 17, 2007 at 8:55 PM
So what is the problem with requiring all people to have insurance?
the government picking up the tab is a problem but the basic idea that people should take responsibility for themselves and obtain insurance is a good idea. I’ve been putting this idea out there for a couple years now. Also a law stating that if you do not have insurance all doctors and hospitals do not have to treat you.
Why would you work all your life and live under the risk of losing everything by not having car,health, home and life insurance? Not only is it common sense but it is a great financial advice.
unseen on September 17, 2007 at 9:00 PM
This is a non question for Hillary because there will not be any illegal immigrants after she bestows
corporateuniversal amnesty on them. Everyone from anywhere who steps foot on US soil will be citizens, or at least here legally, and allowed to suck up as many free benefits as they can handle.Actually it’s not far from Rudy’s plan to end illegal immigration but without the health care.
Buzzy on September 17, 2007 at 9:01 PM
Off-topic, but worthy of a look in a health care thread, Dean Barnett links to a video/charity supporting ALS research. He describes it as well as I can, so go take a look.
Big S on September 17, 2007 at 9:06 PM
But not the majority of Americans or even of voters. Rather the majority of Dem primary voters.
Why would they let something as insignificant as the majority of Americans stop this idea when the majority doesn’t stop them from not enforcing the borders in the first place?
Thomas the Wraith on September 17, 2007 at 9:07 PM
she is going to follow this model you can bank on that San Francisco to Offer Care for Uninsured Adults
Mojack420 on September 17, 2007 at 9:07 PM
We must not let her win……Period.
Bbz123 on September 17,2007 at 8:27PM.
Bbz123: I agree,but lets take a trip down Clinton memory lane.
I think it was the clintons first term,within 6 months,the
UNELECTED TO OFFICE Hillary tried to hijack one third of the American economy for her communist American health care
plan.
You want stratagy,around the clock,blogs,articlies,talk radio,hit pieces of wake up because shes making her second
run on health care,anotherwords throw the past in her face.
We all know the media won’t touch it,heres the real problem
as Rush would say”young minds full of mush”that are of age to vote don”t have a clue about HILLARYS PAST.And thats a problem,so somehow we need to shine the light of truth on
Hillary somehow!
canopfor on September 17, 2007 at 9:12 PM
Simple. They’ll tell the working Americans and their employers to pay for it and take it right out of our paychecks for our own “convenience.” It will be no different than the WIC and other benefits these illegal aliens already receive.
Remember, Hillary has made it abundantly clear that she is “going to take things away from us for the common good.”
mojojojo on September 17, 2007 at 9:20 PM
Calling for universal health care is like loading a handgun and popping the barrel into your mouth. Doom 2.0. Way to go Hillary!
T J Green on September 17, 2007 at 9:22 PM
12-15 million illegal immigrants = a detail
Hmmm.
stonemeister on September 17, 2007 at 9:26 PM
Heck, I thought we already had socialized medical care. Everyone is invited I guess, except middle America. But seriously, the Dims are going to buy their votes(to tell the masses over 40million uninsured they will have health ins. if you elect me, is buying votes, ya see it now?) with our tax dollars whether you like it or not. It gets much much worse after that. After they win in ‘08, all GWB’s prized tax breaks for the elites will be gone FOREVER and the money will actually be used to pay for the Hillary plan. Worse again the Dims legalize the 30 million illegals..GOP Plan A: Lean to the middle, tell them what they want to hear. Stop coming off like the old GOP and start a new era to save what you are about to lose forever. What a wonderful party it would be if you close down the borders and kick out the illegals. Put back to work the African Americans who’s jobs have been stolen. And to offer some kind of health ins.(that’s a no brainer, if the Dims win they get the credit for it and the votes)( and you pay for it anyway as the LOSERS) plan to gain voters. The far right will accept their fate, they have no choice the alternative is far worse(Hillary or Obama and throw in an Edwards for good measure)..I’m just the messenger and please DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER. Dr. Michael Savage, right now has Mitt as his man and has dismissed the rest, and I agree with him, Dr. Savage has more intelligence and common sense than 99.999999% of the population.Period..!!!
Legions on September 17, 2007 at 9:41 PM
well since no body cares about the little detail the 45-47 million Americans with out insurance is in reality closer to half of that {7-8%} why would they worry about 12-15 million illegal immigrants detail.
Mojack420 on September 17, 2007 at 9:42 PM
Just out of curiosity, will HillaryCare cover those tasered by security at a John Kerry townhall meeting for asking Kerry about his affiliation with Skull & Bones?
.
GT on September 17, 2007 at 9:46 PM
Okay… all you universal health care plan folks, you’ve come up with estimates of $90 billion to $120 billion per year…
So lets look at canada spending on universal health care…
Public-sector spending is expected to reach $98.8 billion by the end of the year, up from $74.7 billion five years ago in 2001, with a majority of spending going toward hospitals and physicians. CIHI estimates private-sector health care spending (mostly insurance and out-of-pocket expenditures) will reach $43.2 billion this year, up from $32.0 billion five years ago, with more than half of private-sector health care dollars expected to go toward drugs and dentistry.
Those numbers were as of 2005, and the public spending growth rate was at about 7.3% per year.
And we have a population 1/10th your size
Canadian Imperialist Running Dog on September 17, 2007 at 9:46 PM
In the meanwhile, everyone get busy soon. Amnesty under the radar.
Entelechy on September 17, 2007 at 9:49 PM
Are you kidding me? You think its that simple?
.
I can’t get insurance, I pay for everything myself and will have to do so for at least a couple more years.
I had neck surgery a couple years ago and 4 months later my insurance company canceled me. .Boom, done, gone.
Not enough room to explain here, but I assure you it was NOT my doing nor my preference and I had NO choice. (suit pending)
Other people have had insurance thru their job but lost their jobs. If they had pre-existing health conditions or health issues, NO insurance company will pick them up or cover them. Their insurance did not go with them…it was thru the employer ONLY.
One person( from John Stossel-20/20 the other night)was offered insurance but would have to pay $27,000 per year. she had cancer removed previously, even if she’s clean, she’s done as far as insurance goes.
-on topic of SHILLCARE, You can’t order companies/ small businesses to pay for health insurance either, unless you want nothing left but the huge big box stores like walmart and target.
80% of mom and pop type brick and mortars have under 10 employees but can’t afford to pay for health ins for every one of their employees.
There would be thousands of business closures, bankruptcies, repo’s, leases lost , businesses gone…it would be horrific.
.
Hillary would destroy this country in 8 months.
.
Privatized health care is the ONLY way to go, our gov’t cant do much right, and it definitely can not do health insurance.
Every hospital in America receives federal funds for the indigent handicapped and other needy people , but it all* gets spent on the ILLEGALS. $35 Billion is a lot of money that could be used elsewhere.
.
Stop giving America away, for free, to 20 million illegal aliens who in turn send $40 to $50 BILLION annually, in CASH ….and that’s just what they send back to Mexico.
.
Fix the illegal alien costs, reported to be a net loss of $19,000.00 per illegal alien in America per year, then insurance might change a little,…. maybe.
.
.
*seemingly
shooter on September 17, 2007 at 9:51 PM
Well since no body cares about the litte details…
Mojack420 on september 17,2007 at 9:42PM
Why would they worry about 12-15 million illegal immigrants
detail.
That 12 or 15 million illegal(aliens)immigrants detail,
is that they will be voting LIBERAL,thanks to the media
pitting Republicans against Liberals on this issue.
canopfor on September 17, 2007 at 9:54 PM
Translation:
“We haven’t figured out yet how to pander to all sides of this issue yet…we’ll get back to you when we have”
D E T A I L !?! Hundreds of bankrupted emergency departments?! How is the illegals medical problem a “detail”. If you can’t at least have some deceptive palaver which glosses over the issue at the initial roll-out of the plan, and you just punt, well, yer…dumb.
eeyore on September 17, 2007 at 9:57 PM
Handling such a complicated program deserves both contingency plans and management expertise.
Contingency plans
1 HC (Hillary Care) not including illegal aliens. Top tax
bracket (which kicks in after the first $5000 of income) is increased to 56%.
2 HC (including illegal aliens). The top bracket (which starts after $500 of income) is increased to 97%.
Management expertise
Top Contributer Hsu will be the Chief Administrator.
MaiDee on September 17, 2007 at 10:13 PM
shooter on September 17, 2007 at 9:51 PM
Yes it really is that simple. everyone pays. the government gets out of the healthcare. disovle medicare,medicaid, and tax breaks for companies. Give everyone a tax credit for their insurance and let the market work. In a market econonmy the doctors and hospitals can only charge what people/insurance can pay. Make it a felony to deny care on basis of cost by the insurance industry. Install elected committes or governmental oponted committes to regulate prices much like the utility industry.
Set up a program where the government catostropic insurance like for terroist attacks. Thus the insurance industry can figure out the max cost and price premiums in a known environment. this isn’t rocket science.
If you take the biggest payer out of the healthcare equation(government) the healthcare industry will have to charge less. The insurance companies will have a large pool of healthy people to spread the risk. Premiums should come way down.
What you want in the end is a program that EVERYONE is a member of.
That EVERYONE pays into
That you have a free market where citizens have a choice of different healthplans/premiums depending on what type of insurance they want
A market where the risks are known
and government policing the marketplace for fraud and abuse.
unseen on September 17, 2007 at 10:15 PM
I think this is wrong, and its more like;
Translation: Yeah we’re gonna give taxpayer funded health care to illegals, we’re just gonna BS until we get in the White House and then we’ll do it.
Bad Candy on September 17, 2007 at 10:21 PM
People keep calling Hillary’s plan “socialized medicine”. That’s not technically accurate. If it were socialized, then the goverment would “own the means of production”. In this case, that would mean that the government would have to take over the medical industry from top to bottom. The government would have to take ownership of the hospitials and all other medical facilities, and all the doctors would be employed by the government. But that’s not what she’s proposing. Under her plan, the medial industry would still remain in private hands, but the government would dictate what they can and cannot do.
That, my friends, is fascism.
Evilwhiteguy on September 17, 2007 at 10:30 PM
Is this going to be like ‘no fault’ auto insurance?
You have to buy it? No matter the cost?
What happens if you don’t buy it? They put you in jail? Or they just let you die, if you get sick?
Or if you get sick, they treat you, (you still die) but the ‘health care professionals’ get your estate?
Or you don’t buy the insurance, get sick, and they treat you anyway, and the government pays? (So why buy the insurance?)
I’m begining to think the illegal immigrants have the right idea. Screw the law, and if something bad happens to you, go cry to the news media; “it’s so unfair! This shouldn’t happen to me!”
rockhauler on September 17, 2007 at 10:35 PM
While I think you’re on to some things, but it’s just not “simple”…
How do you police that? Why would everyone tell how much they earn?
Can you think that one thru, kinda like you’ve just been asked by the Pres. to be the one that has to get it dissolved? the Billions of dollars already flowing somewhere in between point A and point Y or Z? People over 65 already on medicare/medicaid? nursing homes funded entirely by these two medi’s?
I abhor welfare, we could make all capable recipients work for their free money…on roads or maybe in the hospitals. THAT would save billions right there.
it is in most hospitals now.
.
Thats the key. No more 12 dollar one pill tylenol in hospitals, $175.00 healthy visits but people shopping for price and quality.
Did you see the 20/20 Stossel show on this health care issue last Friday? Maybe its online somewhere. It covers a bunch, but not everything….which is virtually impossible at this point.
shooter on September 17, 2007 at 11:23 PM
We live in interesting times. The same people who shriek about the government’s general inefficiency during the Hurricane Katrina fiasco see nothing wrong with the same government overseeing health care. God help us all.
jaleach on September 17, 2007 at 11:46 PM
shooter on September 17, 2007 at 11:23 PM
I said it was simple not easy.
Like no fault car insurance everyone must have insurance. The government says you only need to have libility insurance not comp or collosion. that’s a choice.
It’s a felony now not to treat people. that’s the wrong type of law. the law should be a feleony if the insurance fails to pay. If you do not have insurance hospitals and doctors should be allowed not to treat you. yes it is cold hearted but until you put personal responsipility on people they will not do what is needed.
Most states already have an insurance committe to regulate car/home insurance premiums inside a state. Expand this for healthcare insurance. Cut the company’s tax breaks for giving healthcare and instead give everyone a tax break.
the market will drop the price to what people can afford. the reason hospital charge 12.00 for a pill is because the cost is hidden from the majority of consumers. Insurance/government picks up the cost.
To make it even more democratic I think the States should control the programs. the federal government should pass law but the states should control the committees. This gives more power to consumers and less to the insurance/drug/medical industry.
Think about it what stops utility industry from charging whatever they want. After all we need electricty to live nowadays. The market and utility commissions work hand in hand to control the price. Consumers can cut the amount of electricty used when the price gets to high. Some needs to happen with healthcare. as long as ypou have people not paying for their healthcare you will not control prices
unseen on September 18, 2007 at 8:55 AM
The reason hospitals charge 12.00 a pill is to offset the care that is given away to illegals and indigent patients. The result, BTW, of mandated Government programs.
Our Health Care system was just fine until congress passed the HMO act of 1973 and the final nail was when Ted Kennedy introduced the HMO Act in 1978. It caused our Health Care system to go from single payer fee based system to a HMO manged care model.
HMO’s make money by denying services and the results of the emphasis on shifting care to HMOs, and away from providing facilities for health care, were dramatic. From 1980 to 2000, over 1,000 hospitals were shutdown in the United States.
The entire HMO system was based upon permitting HMOs to deny treatment to various kinds of people. From the beginning the managed-care companies “cherry-picked” those whom they would insure–often enrolling only healthy patients, or, after open enrollment, denying access to needed specialists, tests, or treatment for those chronically ill, mentally or physically disabled. In 1976, Congress actually permitted HMOs to deny enrollment to persons institutionalized with a chronic illness or permanent injury.
HMOs have become a corporate, bureaucratic middleman in the health care system, driving up costs while undeniably degrading the quality of our medical care.
As usual, government intervention in the private market has caused unintended consequences, but Washington blames only the HMOs—not the laws that created them.
When we had fee for service before Kennedy mandated the HMO’s we did not have these problems and the free market worked just fine.. Most people today have no idea how much the “HMO” is paying for the services and that is problem.
The patient has been taken out of the loop of normal commerce.
ScottyDog on September 18, 2007 at 10:07 AM
unseen on September 17, 2007 at 9:00 PM:
How do you even do this? Sure, you can pass a law, but how many people live in states that require auto insurance, but they don’t have it either. In the case of illegal aliens, they already make a mockery of our laws, so how hard is it for them to ignore one more?
I agree with you completely. I cannot even imagine not having insurace (health, auto, home, etc.). But we are rapidly becoming a nanny-state, and fewer & fewer people seem to feel this way.
I just don’t see this happening. It’s one thing to have someone be stupid and lose their house or car because it was not insured, but I know very few doctors who would stand over a patient dying of a heart attack and say “Sorry, but you have no insurance, so I must now let you die.”
Amen — couldn’t agree more. But socialized medicine is just scary on so many levels.
lan astaslem on September 18, 2007 at 11:09 AM
lan astaslem on September 18, 2007 at 11:09 AM
I didn’t say that HAD to let them die. I just stated that they could if they didn’t want to treat them. We more risk more people will get insurance. that is the way you get people to get health insurance. Like car insurance if you don’t have it you don’t get your plate and a fine add to that that you may not get service and people will be signing up in droves.
unseen on September 18, 2007 at 1:12 PM
ScottyDog on September 18, 2007 at 10:07 AM
I agree the HOM’s are a problem. they are trying to cut costs and to do that they choose to deny treatments which was the wrong way to go.
I also agree the consumer was taken out of the equation but this was due more to the tax breaks companies got for having health insurance benifits than HMO’s. Instead of increaseing the size of the market it automatically decreased the size of the market to that of big company employees.
Take government out of nthe entire healthcare system. Make the government reponsible for ensuring a fair and free market and the rest will take care of itself. Give the savings back to the people in the form of tax credits.
unseen on September 18, 2007 at 1:15 PM