Are many of the uninsured really illegal immigrants?

[subterranean]

A favorite argument of HCR opponents is that a significant number of the oft-quoted 47 million uninsured are illegal immigrants. Is there any credible source to support this claim? Or is it just another made-up "fact"?

[Lex]

1. where's their link?

or source?

[MidwestRick]

8. Here it is...

http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf

Page 30 of this pdf.

[Lex]

19. nope, not there

:shrug:

[napi21]

2. Probably, but I doubt anyone know how many. People do get sick or hurt in

accidents of some kind. It doesn't matter where they were born. They're human!

[peace13]

3. Some people say......

[KharmaTrain]

6. Yep...

I'm still looking for a verifiable number of "illegals"...some say 6 million, others 12...seems like every group makes up a number to prove a point.

Deal is how can you give a number when you have no way of really identifying those who are UNDOCUMENTED...other than to pull numbers out of one's behind.

The upshot is "illegals" do use emergency rooms now...and the cost is passed on to everyone. That's not going to change as long as those who hire the "illegals" can get away with the cheap labor and not have to cover the taxes and other benefits. Wanna make healthcare real cheap? Tax those who hire "illegals" $3,000 per illegal hire with that money going into a pool to pay for healthcare.

[Howardx]

13. the number of illegals is down due to the recession

that much we do know.

[Howardx]

12. bingo

:toast:

[HopeHoops]

4. Many illegals are uninsured, but they are NOT in the 47 million number.

They're not in the figures at all.

[rmp yellow]

5. 9.7 million of the 45 mil total are immigrants, both legal and illegal

One estimate has the illegal number at 5.7 million.

So it's safe to say that roughly 10% of the uninsured are undocumented immigrants.



http://www.factcheck.org/2009/06/the-real-uninsured/
http://www.nihcm.org/pdf/NIHCM-Uninsured-Final.pdf

[TreasonousBastard]

14. Interesting. Both sites refer to Census data, and...

the CPS (and ACS, fwiw) do ask for country of origin, citizenship status, and whether or not you have health insurance so that part is fairly accurate. But, both the finding enclaves of immigrants to interview, and the methodology of calculating how many non-citizens are illegal present problems. I'm not sure I would entirely trust these numbers.

[subterranean]

16. Thanks for the links.

I assume most undocumented immigrants are uninsured, but I wasn't sure if they were included in the 47 million figure (which is likely even higher now).

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Of course there are, but nobody knows the exact numbers...

just like nobody really knows how many undocumented immigrants are here, or how many of the total population are really uninsured.

But, we're already treating many of them in emergency rooms, so what's the point of asking?

[Bluerthanblue]

9. how many INSURED are undocumented immigants? seems like

it would only be fair for them to offset each other.




:hi:

[TxRider]

10. Obama supports the claims...

Or did people not notice when he started saying "illegal immigrants will not be covered"...

He also dropped the number of uninsured in speech to 30 million...

[dhpgetsit]

11. It doesn't really matter.

When someone who is uninsured goes to the trauma center, he or she is treated. Most likely that person is unable to pay the bill. So in the end Society picks up the check.

The sooner we come to grips with the fact that Society ultimately pays, the sooner we can start talking about a Single-Payer system.

[TxRider]

15. +1

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. Simple solution. Make them "legal" and let them buy insurance.

Or, make them legal and let them join other taxpayers in paying for single-payer.

[Xenotime]

18. Doesn't matter. Every person deserves healthcare.