Obfuscating the Real Issues

The silver lining in the whole Joe Wilson debacle is highlighting an important issue. Unfortunately, I think that everybody gets it wrong. When the congressman called out You lie, it was at the point where President Obama asserted that his health plan would not cover illegal immigrants.

Technically, Obama was right and Wilson wrong. However, I do understand Wilson's point. Given the history of court decisions, it is entirely possible that a judge somewhere could decide that it is unconstitutional to exclude illegals from the government health care option. Critics ascertain that Obama is being coy by claiming he is not including them while knowing that eventually they will be.

This is not impossible, but it does go against all of the president's previous rhetoric regarding the rights of illegals. So, while it is possible that they would end up being included by court decree, Obama was not necessarily being cynically untruthful.

Actually this debate misses two points:

1. The anti-immigrant forces continually contend that illegals use government services but don't pay taxes. I haven't seen recent numbers, but I remember a study from the 1980s (when this debate was at one of its cyclical high points) that showed that many illegals overpaid taxes. This was because they had taxes withheld from their checks, but because they didn't file tax returns, they didn't receive refunds to which they might have been entitled. Further, they had Social Security taxes withheld for which they would never receive a benefit. If this still holds true, then even if illegal immigrants became eligible for the government health plan, they might well be paying for it--at least at the same pace others in their economic class would. People may still object on principle, which I respect, but the cost to citizens might not be as significant as one might think.

2. In essence, most illegal immigrants already receive government health care, directly or indirectly. The vast majority of illegals are working poor. So if they have phony documents, some may qualify for Medicaid. Who pays for that programs? Taxpayers. In this case, the immigrants that some worry about getting government-paid health care are already getting it. So it's really a wash. Not all have the documentation to get Medicaid. But hospitals who accept any government insurance (nearly all of them) cannot turn anyone away from receiving treatment. If they can't pay, then the hospital either eats the cost or (more often) taps into a state fund that pays for indigent patients. Again, where does this money come from? Taxpayers. In short, I don't think that covering illegal immigrants in a government health play would change the amount of money that taxpayers pay for their health care. The difference would only be which account it comes from.

I am not trivializing the debate over immigration. This is a serious subject that needs better resolution than we have now. My point is that it is a distraction to the real debate about if health care should be reformed, if so how, and whether there should be a government-run plan as part of it. To focus on illegal immigrants is to ignore the real issues and is a shame. Next time, I want to talk a little about it.