SubscribeFree Prenatal Care - For Non-Citizens Only
From the open borders lobbyists at the Associated Press:
Feds agree to cover Louisiana program for pregnant non-citizens
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana will be reimbursed for a new state government program that provides free prenatal care to women who are not U.S. citizens, a federal official said.
The prenatal care is reimbursable under federal standards but other medical care for the pregnant women is not reimbursable, unless a physician certifies it could affect the fetus, said Mary Kahn, a Washington-based spokeswoman for the U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“The fetus is eligible for services related to the pregnancy,” Kahn said Wednesday.
The care is given through the Louisiana Children’s Health Insurance Program, called LaCHIP.
“It’s the unborn child. It’s a special carve out,” Kahn said.
As of Nov. 1, the Louisiana program was delivering prenatal care to 1,061 women who are not U.S. citizens. Most are in Jefferson, Orleans and East Baton Rouge parishes. The program, which began July 1, cost $3 million in its first three months of operation. Eighty percent of its costs are reimbursable from the federal government.
Louisiana Health Secretary Roxane Townsend said federal officials approved the expansion in April. She said Texas and Arkansas also have been given the go-ahead for similar expansions, and Oklahoma has a pending request.
In general, government health insurance only covers non-U.S. citizens in emergency situations. Immigrants here legally with “green cards” could not get coverage unless they have been in the U.S. for five years. Babies born to non-U.S. citizens who meet government insurance eligibility requirements get health insurance coverage for their first year of life under federal rules.
The state program allows prenatal care coverage as long as the families meet eligibility requirements. Family income cannot exceed double the federal poverty level, or about $40,000 for a family of four.
Mind you, even though it is paid for by the US taxpayer, this new free pre-natal coverage is only available to non-US citizens.
But don’t worry, there are strict limits:
The prenatal care is reimbursable under federal standards but other medical care for the pregnant women is not reimbursable, unless a physician certifies it could affect the fetus, said Mary Kahn, a Washington-based spokeswoman for the U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Your wallet will be amazed to see how many things will be found to affect a fetus. Even when the woman isn’t pregnant.
This program should be called the “Let’s Have More Anchor Babies” initiative. Or better yet, the “Let’s Get More Democrat Voters” program.
For it is simply the Democrat party doing what it does best, buying votes with your hard earned money.
(Thanks to WP for the heads up.)
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20 Responses to “Free Prenatal Care - For Non-Citizens Only”
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November 16th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF OUR MONEY BEING WRONGLY SPENT & THEREFORE, REPOST “THE REALITY BYTES’ IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT OF 2008″.
1. SUBCONTRACT BORDER CONTROL TO HALLIBURTNON, BLACKWATER (OR EQUAL)
2. SUBSIDIZE LOCAL & STATE AUTHORITIES ENFORCEMENT OF CURRENT IMMIGRATION LAWS
IF THE NATIONAL SPEED LIMIT IS ANY INDICATION, WE’D NOT ONLY HAVE THE PROBLEM SOLVED BUT CREATE A WHOLE NEW INDUSTRY IN THE PROCESS.
November 16th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
Yes, this is all about buying votes. When have Demos ever cared about preborn infants? They like eto abort them!
November 17th, 2007 at 2:05 am
Yeah, JulieJ, this confused me, too. We’re paying money to “things” that don’t really exist or live or have rights (according to liberals, I personnally do not endorse that and am totally against it). The only problem I have with this is they aren’t U.S. citizens. I’ve worked and lived in Germany the since 1987 and even though the Germans have socialized medicine, I gotta pay since I’m not a citizen.
We definatlely need a change in the leadership philosophy in this country. We need it before we cease being the United States of America and become the Disassociated Broken Federally Controlled States of the Fomer USA. Try writing that on your return mail address.
November 17th, 2007 at 8:17 am
Rush Limbaugh read a study that immigrants who go through the process legally to become Americans 1) hate the illegals and the push for amnesty for them and 2) tend to vote Republican because they see the Dems as pushing #1 onto America. [I admit, I do not have the time to find the article for a link, sorry]
November 17th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Which is why the Democrats don’t care about legal citizens.
People who follow the law and try to succeed on their own merits are just not liberals’ friends.
November 18th, 2007 at 10:54 am
Just to add a little to the discussion. Texas has a similar program called Title 5 in which hospitals and physicians are paid for just the delivery and the hospital charges are paid. We, physicians, are not paid for any ohter labs or tests i.e.ultrasounds, cultures etc. Certain facilities such as The University of Texas Medical Branch are paid for ancillary services. The bottom line is that if no pre-natal care is provided then infants with serious medical issues will be born and will take up resources that other infants could use. Very few physicians welcome these patients into their practice. Actually can’t think of one, however when they show up at the hospital and its your turn to take walk-ins is when these patients are typically seen by private practice docs.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
I was born in Mobile, AL in ‘72. Raised in Dallas, TX. Served in the U.S. Marine Corps and have worked and paid taxes all my life. My pregnant wife was recently denied medical assistance (prenatal care), because she is not a citizen but merely a legal permanent resident. Great job Republicans, I guess I should be more careful about who I fall in love with.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Sorry to hear about your woes Citizen, but nobody here knocked your wife up!
August 28th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Where is “here”?
August 28th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Citizen, glad to see you are sticking around to have a discussion. Do you mean that your wife was denied free medical assistance or that your insurance refused to cover her?
August 28th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Citizen,
Don’t blame the rest of us for you and your wife’s failure to act responsibly. Wait to have children when you can afford to pay for them because paying for pre-natal care is just the beginning of at least 20 years of constant money drain on your wallet.
Children are great, but they are also very expensive.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Citizen, thank you for serving your country. You are very much appreciated here at S&L for your service in the Corps.
That being said, it’s a bit hard being empathetic if we don’t know the circumstances surrounding your plight. Are you aware that your wife can become a US citizen after three years of permanent legal resident status?
August 28th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
I currently have no insurance David.(Currently Low Income Self-employed) I am currently investigating the CHIP program, which may help. We were denied through Medicaid.
Thanks for your insight 1sttofight, how long should we have waited? We can share whatever resources we have with the child, which should get us by. I think we were hoping that the child could be provided with some preventive health care until our financial means improve.
I agree with denying benefits to “illegal” immigrants and understand that purpose, as I would not want to see my tax dollars go to support the citizens of other countries, I believe that support should be provided by the corresponding country in question.
Yet, I think a loop hole that needs to be addressed is the denial of prenatal care to the child of an American citizen, even after we have spent thousands of dollars to and interviewed with the “Dept. of Homeland Security,”
solely for the privilege of allowing my wife to live with me in this country of ours.
It may be hard to believe, but myself, my family, and our ancestors, have paid our dues.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Citizen: I second (or third) your service to our country. That being said, y’all (I’m from the South, too) probably know how babies are made and are responsible for the consequences of said conjugation - intentional or otherwise.
And to follow 1st’s lead, pregnancy is just the beginning of your expenses and responsibilities. Be wonderful parents, enjoy the greatest of all blessings, start saving now for your child’s education, and best wishes to you and your wife, sir.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I, being 36 years old, and my wife, being 40, are quite aware of how babies are made and the implication of the responsibility of child rearing. After 2 1/2 years of marriage, and seeing better financial times, my wife and I were beginning to think we were not able to produce a child. The pregnancy was quite a surprise.
Yet, I was trying to address the issue of the fact that I am expected to give so much into this State and Country, but if something should happen that I request some assistance from a State program that I and my family have paid into for so long, it is forcefully implied that I should feel ashamed.
I feel no shame for my actions in this case. I am beginning to think I should have stuck with the ‘not so rich site’ that may have given me a more proletariat approach. Thanks for your wishes Colonel and a salute to you. Can’t help but respect those who stick up and fight for their own.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Citizen,
There is no shame in your circumstance. The majority of us have fallen on hard times before and it is frustrating dealing with state or county bureaucrats during those moments but I’m sure you’ll find the light at the end of the tunnel.
Contrary to the propaganda you here from the Dem libtards, no one is ever denied health care in the US, especially if your a citizen or permanent legal resident.
I’m guessing here but you probably make too much to qualify for Medicaid. If that’s the case, SCHIPS is indeed your next avenue for the care your wife (and soon to be healthy child) needs. After that, it would be a Title V FFS program. The list goes on from there.
Good luck and may God bless you and your future family sir.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Citizen, this is a not site for the elite ,I can not speak for any one else here, but I have to earn what I get.
I just get bored of the somebody else owes me mentality, and that’s how I saw your post at first.
I now see that I should have taken a more diplomatic route.
I do thank you for your service to the country, I am sure everyone that posts here will tell you the same.
This small group may not have every answer, but we sure as hell will try and find it, we just got off to a bad start, I hope you can forgive that and post more of your thoughts and plights as you see fit.
As for the wife and child, there are WIC programs in place in several states, they maybe of help depending on your current residence, Several posters on this site maybe of better assistance on that issue than I.
Hang around, if nothing else, a few of the posters here are great at reminding you that a monitor needs a good cleaning from time to time.
August 29th, 2008 at 12:09 am
I think better understanding improves most situations in life. I personally believe(however harsh it may seem to some groups) that in the case of child birth, as well in cases of public schooling and so forth, that the parent’s immigration status should be checked. I am personally inclined to the innocence of children and believe in their safety. Yet, if neither of the parents were citizens and here illegally, I believe the mother, child, and father(if available) should be deported as soon as reasonably possible. It even seems somewhat cruel to myself, yet fair and necessary.
I think I would be a little upset if someone deported my family overseas, yet if this policy was in place maybe I would receive slightly less criticism for being a financially strapped father to a half immigrant child.
Or better yet, to outlaw marriage to foreign citizens. Had I been informed of that law before I got married, I’m sure I would not have had a complaint at all. In addition, maybe a “don’t have sex with foreigners if you expect your child to treated as an American citizen” law. “Anyone born in America is a U.S. citizen” approach only benefited early America. That time has seem to have passed, I agree. I suppose I was just hoping to sort out some of the confusion of the half-citizen approach. I’m still trying…
August 29th, 2008 at 3:16 am
“…if something should happen that I request some assistance from a State program that I and my family have paid into for so long, it is forcefully implied that I should feel ashamed.”
I sympathize with this. It think people born after 1980 are finally starting to understand that the social programs we pay into are worse than the lottery in terms of house edge. There is absolutely no expectation among people in my generation that we are ever going to see a penny from the government, even though we have been paying into redistribution programs for years.
With regards to people who are in the situation you recently faced, that is simply not what the government is for. The federal government, under the powers enumerated in the constition, is not charged with paying for its citizens’ medical treatment. That is what one’s family and the church are for. There was a time when that was a foregone conclusion. It can be humbling to have to ask for help from the members of your church, but that is what the members of the body of Christ do for one another. If there is any hesitation at all to help you with necessities like prenatal care, you are not in a Christian chruch.
I wished we lived in a utopia where there weren’t any hardships and a couple’s love and the desire to raise a child were enough, but we don’t live in that world. Sorry I don’t have anything better to offer.
August 29th, 2008 at 5:02 am
I’m familiar with the,”if you were Christian you would not be having this problem” argument. We will be just fine, thanks. Was trying to point out situations which may not be so obvious while trying to encourage change amongst whatever persons that feel they may be the majority. I myself am currently registered to vote.