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WASHINGTON –
In yet another attempt to derail progress on health care reform,
opponents have tried again to generate fears and false claims about
immigrants. Unfortunately, rather than strengthening its resolve to
improve the health care system, the Senate Finance Committee, apparently
following the administration’s lead, has responded by taking the bait.
Today the committee introduced a health care reform proposal that denies
millions of U.S. workers and their families the opportunity to purchase
affordable health care and that will threaten the health and well-being
of the nation’s communities. Below is a statement from National
Immigration Law Center Executive Director Marielena Hincapié on efforts
to deny immigrants access to affordable health care.
“In an effort to
appease the anti-immigrant minority who fundamentally oppose health care
reform, the health care reform proposal released today by the chair of
the Senate Finance Committee falls far short of the original goal of
making health care available or affordable for everyone. Lawmakers have
once again allowed disruptive, counterproductive voices to prevent us
from moving forward as a country with real solutions for the broken
health care and immigration systems. Instead, they offer half-hearted
solutions that leave too many families and workers behind while
Americans continue to lose access to affordable health care. Instead of
cowering before those who believe the status quo works for the average
American, Congress needs to prescribe real solutions to the health care
crisis and fix the system in a way that addresses the diverse needs of
our nation.
“We cannot allow the
shouts of a few extremists to prevent us from repairing a health care
system that has been broken for decades. We urge Congress to make the
most of this historic opportunity to move the country forward by
ensuring that all Americans — including immigrants and their families —
have access to quality affordable health care. Common-sense measures,
such as ensuring that low-income legal immigrants do not have to wait
five years for affordable care, will go a long way in improving our
national health.”
For more information:
"Why
Excluding People from the Health Care Exchange is Impractical and
Harmful to All of Us"
(www.nilc.org/immspbs/health/exchange-imms-2009-09-14.pdf)
More information about
the health care reform bills and how they affect immigrants will be
available soon at
www.nilc.org.
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