MARTIN ARMSTRONG: American taxpayers are now on the hook for three ongoing wars, over 21 million migrants, and countless spending packages.

Former President Bill Clinton approved the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) that prevented illegals from accessing Medicaid and other federally funded benefits. The loophole here is that they are able to access Medicaid for “emergency” situations and then are provided a minimum 90-day grace period, thanks to Biden and Harris.  --Martin Armstrong.

Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have declared that illegal migrants may have access to Medicaid in a move that will cost billions. Individual state rights are coming into play once again, but how do individual states manage a federally funded program? Estimates believe over 21 million people have entered the United States since 2022, but no one knows the true figure. The Foundation for Government Accountability has produced a new study that indicates a major catastrophe ahead for Medicaid as millions of people who have never paid into the fund are receiving access.

Arizona, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan have reported a 500% increase in Medicaid usage since 2019 due to migrants. The states required to provide financial transparency revealed that the cost of Medicaid to taxpayers has increased by 550%. Hospitals allegedly check to see if a patient is a US citizen, but even if they are unable to provide proof, they are still legally required to treat them. Patients unable to provide proof of citizenship are given a 90-day grace period to show documents but states are now extending that period or simply asking for proof of citizenship.

Blue states like New York, Oregon, and California want to expand Medicaid coverage to illegal migrants regardless of citizenship status. In New York, anyone over 65 may enroll, so long as they reach the low to no income requirement. California and Oregon have already begun providing migrants with full Medicaid benefits. The Foundation for Government Accountability believes that taxpayers in California alone are now paying an additional $4 billion annually to cover these costs.

“Nationwide, taxpayers could soon be paying tens of billions of dollars on health care for people who have no right to our safety net—including those who have no right to be in the country,”   says Hayden Dublois, analytics director at the Foundation for Government Accountability. “All of health care will suffer, too,” Dublois says. “Medicaid pays much less than private insurance, so burdening hospitals with illegal aliens will lead to mounting red ink. Some hospitals have already closed, especially in states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare, and covering illegal aliens will likely cause more to follow suit.”

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) believes that US taxpayers have already footed a $16.2 BILLION bill to provide emergency Medicaid care to illegal immigrants since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, marking a 124% increase since the Trump Administration. “With over $16.2 billion flowing from federal and state governments’ coffers to pay for emergency services for illegal aliens, it is clear that Open Border Czar Vice President Harris’s failed border policies remain the greatest threat to both the United States’s national security and our economic standing,” the CBO reported.

This was never a partisan issue.  Former President Bill Clinton approved the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) that prevented illegals from accessing Medicaid and other federally funded benefits. The loophole here is that they are able to access Medicaid for “emergency” situations and then are provided a minimum 90-day grace period, thanks to Biden and Harris.

Kamala Harris recently voiced her support for migrants over taxpaying citizens. “Health care is a basic human right,” Harris said. “No one should be denied medical attention because of their status.”

Countless people are continuing to flock to the United States as our borders remain open. Every payroll you can see the amount paid into Medicaid by people who may never have access to this service. American taxpayers are now on the hook for three ongoing wars, over 21 million migrants, and countless spending packages. Yet people are cheering that we can't turn back the page to 3.5 years ago when NONE of these issues existed.

"MEDICARE FOR ALL" WILL SHORT-CHANGE HOSPITALS . . . AND THERE WILL BE CLOSINGS

Medicare for All Would Decimate New York Hospitals

To the editor:

With election season heating up, so is the conversation about single-payer health care. Is it appropriate for New York? Is it appropriate for upstate? What about hospitals?

Upstate New York hospitals have their own unique geographic, economic and patient-mix factors; there are 54 hospitals and health systems in the Iroquois Healthcare Alliance’s region alone, and 217 hospitals throughout the state. Additionally, IHA members span over 28,000 square miles, across 32 counties of New York. Hospitals upstate range from large academic teaching institutions to sole community hospitals to 15-bed critical access facilities. Many are often the only safety-net providers in their communities. Single-payer for all of these hospitals is, therefore, obviously, complicated. ADVERTISING

What isn’t complicated is the apparent appetite for some level of government involvement in health care, mostly because it already exists. New York operates one of the largest Medicaid programs in the country, totaling nearly $60 billion annually, with 5 million enrollees. Approximately 1 in 3 New York City residents and approximately 1 in 4 in the rest of the state are enrolled in Medicaid.

Hospitals and health care providers throughout New York remain reliant on government, both Medicaid—and on Medicare—for patient revenue. In fact, Medicare is the largest payer upstate, because of the aging population. For upstate hospitals, Medicare accounts for 47% of hospital inpatient revenue, while Medicaid only accounts for 15%. Private insurers account for 20% of total inpatient revenue.

In dividing the tab for hospitals three ways between Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance, government (Medicare and Medicare) is the entity footing most of the bill. Unfortunately, government as a payer hasn’t exactly been a win for the hospital industry. Nearly half of all IHA member hospitals reported negative operating margins in 2016, and the median operating margin for IHA hospitals was a meager 0.3% that year.

Upstate hospitals are also paid less than their counterparts in downstate for the actual cost of both Medicare and Medicaid. Downstate hospitals receive 36.4% in Medicare, 21.6% Medicaid and 14.4% in private insurance. Looking at the data per day by payer, Medicare provides hospitals $2,337 per day upstate and $3,012 downstate. Medicaid follows a similar pattern: $2,150 upstate, $2,929 downstate.

But the most pronounced difference is in private insurance. These insurers pay upstate hospitals $3,767 per day and downstate hospitals a staggering $6,105. Private insurers pay over 60% more than government per day to hospitals located downstate.

A single-payer health system can only be examined, discussed and debated when the payer is known—and most importantly when the reimbursement structures are known. Single payer that uses rates similar to what private insurers pay downstate hospitals per day would be positive for upstate hospitals. A system based on the current rates being paid by Medicaid and Medicare would hurt all hospitals, particularly devastate upstate hospitals, and likely reduce access to health care in many communities.

Gary J. Fitzgerald 
President
Iroquois Healthcare Alliance

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20180829/OPINION/180829891/medicare-for-all-would-decimate-new-york-hospitals

Gary North forecasts the problems correctly:

He sees what is coming: short-changing hospitals. At that point, they will start going bankrupt. There will be closings.

There will be rationing. People will not be able to schedule operations without waiting.

What will happen to people who cannot afford private healthcare programs, which will rise in price due to rising demand? The rich have concierge physicians. The upper middle class will start flying to the Caribbean. They will pay for the services they want. But the middle class will be caught in the rationing system.