Pawlenty Called Out On Undocumented Immigrant Claim

Think Progress:

Today on ABC's This Week, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) defended Rep. Joe "You Lie!" Wilson's (R-SC) concern that undocumented immigrants would be able to get federal health care benefits. Although Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stated that President Obama and Congress have made it clear that undocumented immigrants shouldn't have access to the new health insurance exchange, Pawlenty claimed that they will still will "show up" and get the services because no one checks their citizenship status. When Stephanopoulos called out his inaccurate claim, Pawlenty stumbled for a response.

Read the whole story: Think Progress

Comments

[rf dude]

From Canada ???
--

[oldedinthailand]

Only in America would people say that if you are in an accident that an ambulance can't be called until the government proves that you are a citizen. So what if it takes 3 days, we will know that no furriner gets free health care. Almost guarantee that granma dies waitin for certification.

[mick7191]

It's the "Cons working their way to a national ID card. And they have the nerve to call President Obama a N@zi.

[brt929]

Maybe I'm missing something here- there is no free lunch, this bill is about bringing down the cost of insurance and people paying insurance premiums to an insurer. So are we saying, we DON'T want undocumented workers to purchase medical insurance?

Don't we all win if they DO buy insurance?

Medicaid already excludes undocumented workers from coverage- and as far as I know, that is the only "free" medical insurance available.

If the states want undocumented workers to pick their fruit, then either the farmer or the state should pick up the tab for some kind of medical insurance for them.

I'm wondering, when Hewlett Packard and Microsoft bring people here from India, to work for half of what an American makes, shouldn't we force them to purchase medical insurance for those workers? It is my understanding they aren't even covered under Work Comp.

It really is a scam that it all the illegal immigrants breaking the system 80% of those that file Bankruptcy for medical bills had health insurance.

[dontomas]

Mexico has a national health plan and it is a pretty good one. Many ex pats, particularly Seniors who live in Mexico usually join this health plan since tourists are not excluded if the prove they are living in Mexico part time. Most Mexicans if diagnosed with a major health problem just go back to Mexico to get treated.
The agricultural workers who are brought to the US on a temporary legal status are provided health care by the major agricultural companies. This leaves the broken leg type of ER patient that might be a non pay. Its not like illegal aliens are a major reason for high insurance rates.

[meede]

They would never admit that Americans go to Mexico for treatment.

But the Lobbyists, Special Interests, Insurance/­Healthcare Giants continue to state that Canadians go to US for treatment. They neglect to tell you that the Canadian Gov pays for it or that it's the seniors who spend winters in the south who have insurance they purchased in Canada to travel, Minor details to these groups so why tell anyone!!

[DaCoach]

Let's add some historical content to the issue. At the urging of big business, numerous Republican governors of border states turned a blind eye to illegal aliens who provided cheap labor. Among those was Governor Bush of Texas who ultimately proposed giving them legal worker permits. Sen. Cornyn even went further and proposed making the visa permanent which didn't require them to ever leave the country.

Now the GOP essentially suggests they be able to work full time but, if they need medical care, deny them or their children assistance. Perhaps they can explain the apparent conflict. It makes no sense, but then, why should I expect anything rational from a party that is 95% in the hands of extremists of the far right.

[Lolaisme]

If the government would enforce our immigration laws, this wouldn't be an issue!

[Smirk]

If the government enforced our immigration laws, many--maybe most--of the businesses depending on cheap labor would go berserk and threaten to withdraw funding from the pols who largely depend on their money to fund their campaigns.

[apoyo]

Maybe if you chose your leaders based on what they would do for the people and not for what they will do for big business this wouldn't be an issue.

Big business wants cheap labor.
They will either import it, legally or not.
Or they will export the jobs.
Either way they will get cheap labor.
Because that is how big business increases their profits.
And investors want their profits increased also, right?

So, don't blame the immigrant, documented or not.
They are lured and they come because they too, like to feed their families.

[meede]

That would mean the businesses hiring them at slave wages would cut into their profits. They won't stand for that.

[DRaymond]

Pawlenty and those who are foisting this argument that they will 'just show up' must be thinking about the current system, where because they have no other choice illegals just show up at emergency rooms and get treated at government expense. Nothing in the health bill changes that, which is a shame because if it did we might actually spend less on illegal allien health care!

However think this through. We aren't talking about a single payer plan (much as that might be preferable). When you arrive somewhere for treatment you will need to show which of your many options for health coverage, public or private, you are under. In other words you will need a membership card. You will need to apply to your plan to get your membership card, whether the private or the public one. There will be information given that will be able to be verified. And the public option is not automatically free. In order to get subsudized premium you will need to document your income. How will you do that? With an income tax return of course. So Pawlenty is comeplety blowing smoke when he suggests that an illegal allien will be able to just walk up to a table and walk away with subsudized health insurance. What they might be able to do is to buy health insurance at the full unsubsudized premium without having to document their income. But that doesn't cost the government anything. Rather it saves them money.

[Tuckerndfw]

"Subsidized insurance" is NOT "free."

It is a tax credit ("affordability credit") provided to "poor" people so they can BUY insurance.

In no case is it free.

Illegals will receive the exact same benefits as anyone who buys insurance except the tax credit subsidy. They can buy insurance under the "public option (insurance)", through the Health Insurance Exchange or from any gov't approved insurance company.

If they receive no benefits from HR 3200, then no one will benefit other than those receiving a tax credit subsidy (which they will hand over to an insurance company using whichever option they choose).

[DRaymond]

As I understand it the maximum subsidy will cover the whole cost, so at least by the definition used by store flyers it counts as free. But as we apparently both agree you would have to document your income, and that means showing an income tax statement which poses a real barrier for an illegal allien trying to fake their way into subsidized coverage.

[sixx]

Pawlenty doesn't sound American to me. Is he getting federal health care?

[Nominy]

maybe he's slipping over the border from some of the good stuff!

[caterpol]

Stop it already.

Joe Wilson didn't rudly blurt out that he was concerned that the bill didn't include enforcement provisions to prevent illegals from benefitting from any reform----AS THEY CURRENTLY DO NOW under the system that WILSON HAS DONE NOTHING BUT SUPPORT----he called Obama a li ar for saying, honestly, that the bill didn't INCLUDE FREE BENEFITS for illegals. In fact, it said jist the opposite.

So that now we've all seen proof that Obama was correct in his assertion, Pawlenty and his fellow pants on fire cronies are still insisting that Joe Wilson was absolutely correct? If not in this world, at least in some alternative universe completely lacking in logic?

[Tuckerndfw]

Obama did not say HR 3200 did not include "free benefits" for anyone.

HR 3200 doesn't provide "free benefits" to anyone. It requires everyone, including illegals, to buy insurance.

Obama said illegals will not benefit from health care reform now known as health insurance reform. (HR 3200)

If that's true, given the requirement illegals must buy insurance, then no one will benefit.

Obama is either lying about it benefiting everyone who buys insurance or he is lying about it not benefiting illegals.

Which one is the lie?

[Sabreen60]

You.

[Don Quixote]

We would be a dystopian society indeed if we ever have to prove citizenship prior to receiving healthcare.

What if you're incapacitated and can't function?
What if you have brown skin, a hispanic surname, an accent and no papers on your person?
What if you're elderly with memory problems and have no idea where your documents are?
What if you're mentally ill and don't know where you're from?
What if you're a victim of a natural disaster that destroyed all your records?
What if you're a citizen who doesn't believe in national identification systems, perhaps on religious grounds? Many fundamentalists believe this is a sign of the endtimes (mark of The Beast)?
What if you're poor and were born in a rural area to a midwife with no documentation recorded?
What if you're a "post-nationalist", or anarchist who simply doesn't believe in the very concept of nation, sovereignty, borders or citizenship? (There are Americans like this.)
What if you're a tourist and lost your visa and don't have it on you?

You can see how citizenship verifcation for health care is much, much easier said than done. Here's a concept. What say all nations treat health care as a fundamental human right as opposed to a privilege you earn by being born where you get sick or hurt? When you just do what you know to be the right thing, things always seems to even out in the end.

[jweider]

What if all of the hospitals sent you the bill for all of the illegal aliens they treat?

[Tuckerndfw]

They do. Taxpayers pay for that treatment.

If you pay taxes, you pay for all indigent care at public hospitals.

[Nominy]

yea DUH mcfly they already do.

[mimigrammy]

Pawlenty would have an injured undocumented worker bleed to death on his lawn after they'd mowed it for below minimum wage. That's the compassionate conservatism way of Republican's.

[Greg Petty]

He is a weasel

[BabblingBrooks]

This "calling out" phraseology is becoming really popular, I suspect because it DOESN"T MEAN THAT TRUTH WAS ESTABLISHED or facts presented, just that somebody disagreed. The pretense is that the conservative viewpoint was disproved, but it was not!

[imfedup]

Actually, it was. GS said we've spent $8 million enforcing it. That means it's being enforced, which is the opposite of what Pawlenty said.

[BabblingBrooks]

1) Stephanopoulos is not a reliable source.
2) If illegal immigrants were NOT going to sneak across the health care border, would not La Raza and other illegal-Hi­spanic-adv­ocacy groups be protesting? That's the dead giveaway right there⁄
3) Congress specifically voted down an amendment to prohibit allowing illegal immigrants into the system. Another dead giveaway.
4) Pawlenty 1, Obama and Stephie ZERO.

[wildedge]

"2) If illegal immigrants were NOT going to sneak across the health care border, would not La Raza and other illegal-Hi­­spanic-ad­v­ocacy groups be protesting? That's the dead giveaway right there⁄" - yes the remark certainly is a "dead giveaway" of stereotyping and ethnophobia - you just lost your argument.

[wildedge]

"2) If illegal immigrants were NOT going to sneak across the health care border, would not La Raza and other illegal-Hi­­spanic-ad­v­ocacy groups be protesting? That's the dead giveaway right there"
Yes, the remark is certainly a 'dead giveaway' of stereotyping ethnophobia - you just lost your argument.

[tandrmcdonald]

For those of us who learned how to read in first grade, here it is. Please do not expect the Republicans to understand it, there are simply too many big words in it.

H.R, 3200
SEC. 246. NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS.
Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.

[DontFeedTheBeast]

Please stop quoting HR 3200 - the public option is DOA.

[Elbrando]

As Yoggi Berra used to say, "It's not over until it's over."

[sviolette]

Nothing has been included in or excluded from the healthcare bill unless they held a vote while everyone was sleeping. Nothing is DOA.

[Tim303]

If it's DOA then why all the fuss about what it says re: illegal immigrants? On Wilson's et al.'s part?

[dynwit]

Iraq has a universal healthcare system that the Bush administration helped them implement. Thanks for thinking about us Americans here at home, GWB and DC!!!!

[Cycadeoidea]

Reminds me of that cartoon of a swing designed by committee.

http://www.businessballs.com/images/treeswing/tree_swing_70s.jpeg