Mr. President. this amendment is a very simple and fundamental amendment. but it is one that is desperately important to county hospitals and to rural hospitals around the country. The effect of this amendment would be to defer the Medicaid prohibitions of the welfare provisions for legal immigrants for 2 years so that the local hospitals are able to accommodate the provisions of this legislation. Under the provisions of the legislation. all immigrants would be prohibited from the day that they enter the United States. and all of those who are in this country. any State could knock them out in January of next year. Probably the most important health facilities that we have in this country in many respects are not the teaching hospitals but the county hospitals that provide emergency assistance. If we put this enormous burdenand it estimated to be $287 million over the period of the next 2 years. that is the cost of i tit is going to have an impact on Americans because the county hospitals are going to deteriorate in quality. they are going to be inundated with additional kinds of cases that they are not going to be compensated for. and they are not going to be able to treat Americans fairly or equitably.
Keywords matched
immigrants