Saturday, April 15, 2006
The GOP kills two birds with one stone.
And they did so by killing off one of their favorite strawmen, illegal immigrants defrauding Medicare. By requiring proof of citizenship, they will eliminate thousands of poor and elderly and "unacceptably dark" people from Medicare as well.
More than 50 million Medicaid recipients will soon have to produce birth certificates, passports or other documents to prove that they are United States citizens, and everyone who applies for coverage after June 30 will have to show similar documents under a new federal law.And all to save the cost of one week of Li'l Georgies Glorious War. And the kicker is this.
The requirement is meant to stop the "theft of Medicaid benefits by illegal aliens," in the words of Representative Charlie Norwood, Republican of Georgia, a principal author of the provision, which was signed into law by President Bush on Feb. 8.
In enforcing the new requirement, federal and state officials must take account of passions stirred by weeks of national debate over immigration policy. State officials worry that many blacks, Americans Indians and other poor people will be unable to come up with the documents needed to prove citizenship. In addition, hospital executives said they were concerned that the law could increase their costs, by reducing the number of patients with insurance.
The new requirement takes effect on July 1. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will save the federal government $220 million over five years
"The report does not find particular problems regarding false allegations of citizenship, nor are we aware of any," Dr. McClellan said at the time.
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