Rep. Steve King Must Have Just Skimmed The Bill
On July 22, 2009, Rep. Steve King's office released a statement saying that the House health care reform bill would allow more than 5 million illegal immigrants to receive health care paid for by citizens and legal aliens. However, he must have skipped the section of the bill that explicitly addresses that issue.
Rep. King Gets It Wrong On Health Care Bill Provisions
Rep. King: 5.6 Million Illegal Immigrants Will Have Free Health Insurance Under House Bill. Rep. Steve King's office wrote in a press release: "According to the Congressional Budget Office, the 2019 non-Medicare population of the United States will include 14.1 million illegal aliens. CBO projects that up to 8.5 million of the 14.1 million illegal aliens in the United States in 2019 will not have health insurance, meaning passage of their bill will see to it that up to 5.6 million illegal aliens have health insurance - in large part because the liberal proposal does not include any requirements to verify the citizenship or immigration status of those receiving taxpayer-funded health benefits." [SteveKing.House.gov, 7/22/09, emphasis original]
House Bill: "No Federal Payment for Undocumented Aliens." According to America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, Page 143, Line 3, Section 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." [America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, accessed 7/22/09]
Andrea Nill at The Wonk Room has more.
