More ways to punish the poor

It's come to light that the 2005 spending bill contains a little-publicized new restriction:

Individuals seeking care through Medicaid beginning on July 1 will be required under federal law to show proof of U.S. citizenship -- such as a birth certificate, passport or another form of identification -- the Boston Globe reports. The requirement was included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which President Bush signed into law earlier this year. The provision's intent is to prevent undocumented immigrants from claiming to be citizens in order to receive benefits only provided to legal residents, according to the Globe.

Can we say Katrina??

It's well known that African Americans, not just "immigrants", often have no birth certificate or proof of citizenship (and they're certainly not using passports to go vacation in Europe).  And certainly recent natural disasters give us pause when considering these kinds of provisions -- imagine how many documents were lost last September. 

This bill is only going to make it harder for the most vulnerable and poor to get health care.  Any money it saves by denying illegal immigrants care will be far outshadowed by the extra pain we're shifting to other Americans, who are the victims of unfortunate circumstance.

Comments

[Jaime in Metairie]

I just wanted to let you know that you are dead on in regards to personal documents following Katrina.

I had a baby on Aug. 24th last year in Metairie, LA. As of today she still does not have a birth certificate. The last time I tried to check on it I was told that they were still working on a storm backlog and they could not tell me if her certificate was in the works or not. The hospital says they shipped it but that does not mean if arrived before August 29th. She did recieve her social security card a couple of months ago but until then I was not able to add her to my insurance.

My mother does not have one in hand either but that is because it washed away. At least she can obtain a copy once things calm down.