Health Care Spending

Deanna Gameros
                                                Health Care Reform Project, Part I
                                      Illegal Immigration on Health Care Economics
                                                            November 6, 2015
                                                                  HCS/440
                                                    Professor Donna Lupinacci

    Immigration is a very hot topic to speak about, especially now in the U.S. The main reason
it is such a hot topic is because of the economic conditions that many Americans feel about our
health care. Many believe that the rising cost of health care and the decline of quality should be
blamed on illegal immigrants. Although this is an issue, there is much to keep in mind. Many
people have a misconception about illegal immigration and its impact on our health care
economics. For one, this country was built by immigrants, but to make one thing clear, it was
built by legal immigrants, legal immigration and the foundation for a better future.
    I read three articles on this subject. This first was “Illegal Immigrant Health Care”, by Sarah
Carlsruh. She explained how our new health care reform bill bans health care for illegal
immigrants, but at the same time lacks the most important thing, which is a way and the people
to enforce it. HR 3200 states that illegal immigrants are not eligible for taxpayer premium
credits, but the House Ways of Means Committee defeated a proposed amendment to use the
systematic alien verification for entitlements. This is used by 71 federal programs across the
country to verify legal status of citizens. Many believe that these tax funded options may be
available to illegal immigrants because although it stipulates that anyone no lawfully present
in the U.S. can access these benefits, it still has no restrictions which makes it possible for
illegal immigrants to use.
    The second piece of...