Presidential Proclamation Projected to Save Taxpayers Billions

Cue the bleeding heart outrage: President Trump has signed a presidential proclamation that, starting November 3, U.S. taxpayers won’t be responsible for paying the health care costs of immigrants.

As part of the immigrant visa registration process, foreigners will now have to submit proof of employer-based health insurance or a non-subsidized plan. The proclamation reads,

While our healthcare system grapples with the challenges caused by uncompensated care, the United States Government is making the problem worse by admitting thousands of aliens who have not demonstrated any ability to pay for their healthcare costs. Notably, data shows that lawful immigrants are about three times more likely than United States citizens to lack health insurance. Immigrants who enter this country should not further saddle our healthcare system, and subsequently American taxpayers, with higher costs.

The thing that shocks me the most about this whole thing is the realization that this wasn’t already part of the application process. I’m in the middle of my third visa application for one of two countries I’ve lived in as an immigrant, and I’ve never NOT had to show proof of insurance. And Iceland has universal healthcare!

Now, of course this proclamation is about legal immigration, and it’s generally accepted that it’s illegal immigration that’s the big problem, which this doesn’t much address. But it’s expected to save American tax payers— i.e., us— billions of dollars. With a B. How, you ask?

In total, uncompensated care costs — the overall measure of unreimbursed services that hospitals give their patients — have exxceeded $35 billion in each of the last 10 years.

Not $35 billion over 10 years, $35 billion per year for the past TEN YEARS. 

These costs amount to approximately $7 million on average for each hospital in the United States, and can drive hospitals into insolvency. Beyond uncompensated care costs, the uninsured strain Federal and State government budgets through their reliance on publicly funded programs, which ultimately are financed by taxpayers.

I don’t know about you, but those savings sound pretty good to me.