Published in The New York Post on July 21, 2008.
Democrats’ single most important domestic proposal - universal health insurance - may blow up in Barack Obama’s face when voters are exposed to the deadly details.
Obama has said, proudly and often, “I am going to give health insurance to 47 million Americans who are now without coverage.” But are they “Americans?”
That 47 million statistic includes illegal immigrants - who virtually all lack insurance. In fact, about one in four of those lacking insurance is here illegally. And they are, by far, the group most in need of health insurance.
About 15 million of the remaining uninsured are eligible for Medicaid but haven’t signed up - mainly because they haven’t gotten sick. When they do, they enroll in Medicaid and we pick up the full tab for their health care relatively cheaply. (About 80 percent of each Medicaid dollar goes to nursing-home care for the elderly, only about 20 percent for the medical needs of the poor.)
The rest of the uninsured pool? Virtually all the children are eligible for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Some aren’t enrolled because the parents haven’t bothered, but most are eligible. That leaves about 20 million uninsured adults who are US citizens or legal immigrants. There are far better ways to handle their needs than to turn our entire health-care system upside down.
Care for illegals is the biggest unmet medical need in our nation, and Obama’s program targets it squarely. But do we really want to give them federally paid coverage equal to what US senators get, as Obama proposes?
Covering illegals adds dramatically to the cost of any program - and would encourage more folks to enter America illicitly.
Obama’s plan will likely have a horrific effect on some local health-care systems.
Illegals now get free emergency-room treatment for life-threatening conditions - as any other American who’s entered an ER in an area with lots of illegals recently well knows. (Three-quarters of the illegal-immigrant population is concentrated in five states: California, New York, Florida, Texas and Illinois.)
But now they’d be eligible for the entire range of medical services, all free of charge. That would trigger severe rationing: bureaucrats deciding who gets to see an oncologist, who can have an MRI - and even who can have bypass surgery and who’d die for lack of it.
These decisions would be made not on the basis of legal status but on the brutal facts of triage: Treat the 37-year-old illegal with his whole life to live before you spend scarce resources on an overweight, diabetic, 80-year-old citizen with high blood pressure who smokes.
John McCain hasn’t raised this issue, perhaps for fear of offending the Latino vote. But polling suggests the case against rationing of health care would be as persuasive to Hispanic-American citizens as it is to the rest of us. Nobody wants to die waiting in line - especially not behind someone who snuck in ahead of us.
McCain needs to hit the Obama plan for treating illegal immigrants to free, federally subsidized health insurance - and hit it hard.
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Comments
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Wake up Dick. Today Millions of Americans are dying needlessly and are living lower quality of lives because they have no hope of even getting into line for health services. They are simply not covered and have no access to proper medical care…some even die. You are sounding the alarm for the privileged who have the means to get health care coverage or one of the few jobs that provide it. What do you propose for the rest?
Why leave out the illegals? If we do, they will spread disease…even to the wealthy. The cost savings is in prevention of disease. Try focusing on that aspect and follow its logical path. If the republicans were going to be running the Universal Health care program, then it is likely your scenario would be correct…as they see fit to let the masses go it on their own anyway without jobs, healthcare, ability to pay their gas and heating bills or buy food.
You also under estimate Obama’s ability to pay as he goes. He is one smart cookie. I bet the money we have spent on the war todate could pay for Universal Health Care for illegals and Citizens with plenty left over….you are starting to try my last nerve.
“I am going to give health insurance to 47 million Americans.” Hopefully that is a paraphrase. If not, then Obama has more of a Messiah complex than we thought. Is Obama going to personally pay for health care for millions of people?
This country is weary of liberals being “virtuous” by spending other people’s money.
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Make MY Day..DICK !!!
I can’t stand that the Gov’t isn’t doing anything about the Illegals as it is..
HomeLand Security.. My “BUM”.. Every time I see that Chertoff I want to throw-UP
And then there is “McCain”… Bottom Line, I GOT NO one to vote for in November… I think I’ll spend the day at the ZOO…
A lot of the issues in this election are intertwined. In this case immigration and health care. It is important to deal with the root cause which in this case is illegal immigration, First step would be to stop adding to the problem and stem the flow of illegal immigrants. Chertoff brags about building 360 miles of fence. He should be fired if thats all he can do. Second would be to come up with a realistic solution to the 12 or 14 million already here. Either order 10,000 buses or accept the reality that they are here to stay and get on with integrating them into our society. Aside from the criminals (other than being illegals) my view is they are a productive and useful part of our society.
That would clear the way to deal with health care in terms of whether or not we as a Nation believe all our citizens should have basic health care. For those who think they don’t pay for uncovered people today…think again. Lost productivity, increased costs for delayed treatment and increased cost of emergency care affect ALL of us. For me the debate is not IF we should cover everyone but HOW. On the latter we need to find a way to do it through the private sector while containing the abuses unrestrained insurance companies unlease on their policy holders(mainly systematically denied or delayed claims).
I really don’t see much of a major difference between McCain and Obama when it comes to these two issues. EIther will be tempered and/or hampered by congress in doing anything.
When we start deceiving ourselves into thinking not that we want something or need something, not that it is a pragmatic necessity for us to have it, but that it is a moral imperative that we have it, that is when we join the fashionable madmen, and than is when the thin whine of hysteria is heard, and that is when we are in bad trouble. Obama needs to pay more attention on doing the right thing rather than doing things right. McCain is so out of touch with the political reality of his campaign, by the time he realizes or plans any counter-strategy, the election will have concluded. I keep saying this over and over; McCain’s memory is not serving him well……
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