Will or won’t illegal immigrants be insured in a health care system overhaul? The question has come to the forefront since Rep. Joe Wilson’s cried out “You lie!” during president Obama’s health care speech the other night. Though the answer isn’t entirely clear, the WSJ notes that the House health reform proposal excludes illegal immigrants from the mandate of buying health insurance or paying a penalty. It also denies them the “affordability credits” that would reduce their out-of-pockets costs of buying insurance on their own, but they could participate in the insurance exchange, where individuals and small businesses can shop for coverage. Obama’s plan wouldn’t allow them to participate in the exchange at all, according to the WSJ. Critics say that as the House bill stands now, there’s no verification

check required to get access to expanded Medicaid coverage, according to the Washington Post . This issue is still being sorted out but could remain complicated, in part because there are households with a mix of legal and illegal immigrants. “Will some illegal immigrant get [help]? Probably. Will it be this big problem? Probably not,” Gerald Prante, an economist with the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, told the Post. The Post points out that there are an estimated 6 million to 7 million uninsured illegal immigrants in the U.S., but they tend to use the services far less than others because of the fear of interacting with the health care system and the government.

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Will Illegal Immigrants Get Insurance Coverage with Health Reform?