The Dems Are Wrong: ObamaCare Would Cover Illegal Aliens

posted at 12:37 pm on September 3, 2009 by Howard Portnoy
[ Healthcare ]   

“Let’s start with the false claim that illegal immigrants will get health insurance under reform. That’s not true.” So said Barack Obama not once, not twice, but repeatedly throughout the month of August in his crusade to set the record straight against alleged myths and distortions circulated by and among conservatives regarding health care reform. His message has been echoed by New York Times writers on three separate occasions, and other Democrats in Congress have picked up on this theme. (You’d think by now the message would have sunk in.)

In fairness, there is nothing in the health care reform bill that specifies that coverage for illegal aliens. But neither — and this is the compelling factor — is there anything in the bill to prevent illegal aliens from helping themselves to government-run health care. As noted by Ann Coulter, “the Democrats expressly rejected amendments that would have required proof of residency status to receive national health care.” Without some explicit language that will establish that the program as off-limits to anyone who lacks citizenship status, how exactly does Obama plan to enforce his promise that illegals will not be covered?

As Coulter notes, “We can’t even get employers and police to inquire about citizenship status, but liberals assure us that doctors will?”

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