Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus Releases Health Care Reform Bill
Containing Immigrant Restrictions

By Micheal E. Hill
September 16, 2009  -  1:30 pm

Senate Finance Committee Chariman Max Baucus (D-MT) released both a brief summary and a detailed summary of his long-awaited health care reform bill on Wednesay, September 16, 2009.   However, the actual legislative language for the bill had not yet been released at the time of this writing, and so it is entirely possible that there are immigrant- and immigration-related provisions in the text of the bill that are not described in the two summaries.

An analysis of the summaries reveal that among the immigration-related provisions that are included in the bill are  provisions that would:

• mandate that legal immigrants (along with U.S. citizens) either purchase health insurance or be subject to a tax penalty;

• exempt illegal immigrants from the mandate to purchase health insurance;
  

• bar illegal immigrants from purchasing health insurance in state or federal health insurance exchanges;
  

• permit illegal immigrants to purchase health insurance in the exchanges for their U.S. citizen or LPR children;

• permit legal immigrants to receive affordability tax credits to help them pay for health insurance without regard to the five-year waiting period under the law for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP);

• bar illegal immigrants from receiving affordability tax credits to help them purchase health insurance;
  

• bar legal residents from receiving affordability tax credits to help them purchase health insurance if their legal status will expire within a year;
  

• exempt illegal immigrants from the calculation of the Federal Poverty Level for the purposes of the bill; and

• impose an immigration status verification regime on all persons --- citizens and noncitizens, alike -- seeking to purchase health insurance.

The release of the Baucus bill comes as the issue of noncitizens' eligibility for benefits and services under the various pending health care reform bills has exploded into public consciousness.  

The Obama Administration upped the ante last week when it suggested that illegal immigrants should not be able to purchase health insurance on the health insurance "exchange" (or marketplace) that is one of the centerpieces of almost every health insurance reform plan that has been introduced in Congress.

Chairman Baucus had hoped to win bipartisan support within the  Senate for his proposal.  But after protracted negotiations with the so-called Gang of Six on his health care reform proposal, it appears at the time of this writing that no Republicans will join him in introducing  his health care reform bill.

There is some opposition in Congress to the immigration restrictions that observers believe will be in the Baucus bill.  However, it is difficult to gauge whether that opposition will be substantial enough to change the provisions.  Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the only Hispanic in the United States Senate, has indicated strong opposition to many of the immigration restrictions that insiders believe will be in the Baucus bill.  And Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), a leader in the House on immigration matters, has warned that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus might oppose a bill that contains restrictions like the ones being speculated on for inclusion in the Baucus bill.