Will Undocumented Immigrants Be a Drain or an Asset?

With health care reform gearing up for its historical commencement on January 1st 2014, a big question of the reform is will undocumented or “illegal” immigrants be provided with health care? So far, the answer to that question seems to be, no, however that is not yet a sure thing as the health care reform is constantly changing. According to Nancy Pelosi,
current democratic representative for California’s 12th district, “taxpayers will not cover healthcare costs for illegal immigrants who gain a pathway to citizenship under immigration reform.” Furthermore, the Affordable Care Act clearly states that illegal immigrants will have no access to subsidies or Medicaid, to which Pelosi agitatedly told reporters, “no cost to the taxpayers.”

Conversely, those who oppose Health Care Reform feel a financial burden is ahead of them if the undocumented immigrants are included in the Affordable Care Act, regardless if they are exempt from subsides or not. According to Sylvia Longmire, former senior border security analyst for the State of California, “Instead of relying on immigration reform to find a way to pay for undocumented immigrants’ health care with tax dollars, we should focus more on sending a strong message to potential immigrants that legal access to government-funded health care should not be an expectation upon arrival in the United States.” Again reiterating the strong feelings and arguments of those who oppose Health Care Reform.

Although, if we allow the large number of undocumented immigrants into the system shouldn’t it raise they amount of premium HCR collects, especially if the undocumented don’t qualify for subsidies? According to an article from Health Affairs it does, “documented and undocumented immigrants have paid about $14 billion more annually into Medicare than they have received in benefits.” Therefore, by allowing the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants into the system, it will inject a nice chunk of monetary value into the program. According to the Los Angeles Times, “the [Health Affairs] report challenges the long-held, popular belief that immigrants are draining resources from the program.”