Mucking Up Reform

Regrettably, the issue of illegal immigration has hijacked the health care debate. Instead of talking about one issue, we're talking about the other. And little is getting done on either.

The exact moment of the takeover occurred in dramatic fashion last week when Rep. Joe W.ilson, R-S.C., crassly interrupted President Barack Obama's address to Congress. Wilson shouted "You lie" when Obama claimed that illegal immigrants wouldn't be able to benefit from his administration's overhaul of the health care system. The congressman was out of line, but he knew something that most of the country didn't — that Democrats had defeated GOP-sponsored efforts to require the verification of citizenship of health care recipients. So, Obama was right in saying the bills specifically declared that illegal immigrants were not eligible for benefits, but critics were right in saying there was no enforcement to back it up.

More evidence of the change in course for the health care debate came when the White House, in trying to quiet the firestorm, took a new and harder line — a position that went even further than congressional negotiators had been willing to go.

Here's the background. Before the Wilson outburst, Congress had been careful to write legislation that barred illegal immigrants from receiving free health care benefits. This is a perfectly reasonable position that also happens to be compatible with the public's view.

Most Americans do not support the idea of illegal immigrants, who should not even be in the country in the first place, taking advantage of health care reform to receive free benefits.

So far, so good. But after the outburst, the White House obviously felt pressured to drop the hammer. It foolishly tweaked its own vision of health care reform so that illegal immigrants would even be barred from participating in its proposed insurance exchange, even if they were willing to pay for it. And while illegal immigrants could still, at least theoretically, purchase their own private health care outside the exchange, that would be more difficult because, the White House acknowledges, there could soon be fewer private insurance options in the marketplace.

That means illegal immigrants could only qualify for expensive emergency health care. Instead of paying a dime for preventive care, we'll pay a dollar for emergency care. Only in Washington would something like that make sense.

Besides, although we think that people who are here illegally should be held accountable, we also recognize that the United States lacks the will and resources to deport 12 million illegal immigrants. These people aren't going anywhere, so it doesn't make sense to put the population at risk by making the immigrant community a breeding ground for disease.

That's not smart, and it's not humane. And, as such, it is only mucking up more meaningful discussion of health care reform.

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