Trump Management Will Improve Healthcare and Immigration Policy

Is there any connection between illegal immigrants and healthcare costs? It is a question argued over ever since Obamacare was passed with the exclusion of illeglas form coverage -- although they often get coverage through Medicaid despite Obamacare's interdiction. This fiscal burden is estimated to be between $3.5 and $4.5 billlion per year, or about $200 for each household headed by a US citizen. Total illegal immigration costs for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants federal and local taxpayers $113 billion a year. That is an average cost to citizen-headed households of $1,117 a year -- and $84 billion of that cost is borne by state and local government. So, there is a connection although the figures are disputed and hard to nail down. • • • CNN CUTS A HOUSE MEMBER SHARING TRAVEL BAN STATISTICS. WND reported on Tuesday that Republican House member Scott Taylor of Virginia was abruptly disconnected from his CNN interview Monday just as he began citing statistics revealing that 300 refugees admitted to the US are being investigated by the FBI in domestic terrorism cases. CNN correspondent Dana Bash was interviewing Representative Taylor on the issue of President Trump’s revised travel ban, which bars entry of individuals from a list of six terror hotbeds (Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syrian and Libya) for 90 days as the administration examines the vetting process. Bash asked Taylor if he believes Trump’s ban is necessary for America’s security. Taylor answered : "Just today, the FBI comes out and says that 30%, 30%, of their domestic terrorism cases that they’re investigating are from folks who are refugees. It’s important not to label all refugees bad people, that’s not why I’m here, but...” That’s when the feed suddenly cut out. Taylor’s face and voice were replaced by an image of colored bars and a loud buzzing noise. Bash grinned as she said : “I was just going to say, congressman, it’s time to go, but I think the TV gremlins did that for us." • It is no wonder that CNN’s public perception has been dropping like a rock -- plummeting lower than even MSNBC. Other CNN cut-offs for 'unwelcome' real news being dropped into CNN's fake news include host Carol Costello shutting down Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson during the campaign when Costello said the interview was “going nowhere” because Pierson didn’t respond to Costello’s line of questioning about Trump’s 2005 comments on the secretly recorded “Access Hollywood” tape. • But, that 30% statistic about domestic terrorism cases linked to refugees is one of the key reasons that President Trump has re-issued his executive order providing for a temporary travel ban from terrorist-laden countries until the US can figure out how to properly vet visitors, immigrants and refugees from those countries. • • • THE 9th CIRCUIT CASE. In a related matter, the US Justice Department filed a motion on Tuesday asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss its appeal of a federal judge's ruling that temporarily blocked President Trump's initial travel ban. The DOJ has decided to rely instead on Trump's revised ban, which goes into effect March 16. The government agreed to pay the costs of the case and said Washington state and Minnesota, which sued over the original executive order, agreed to the motion. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in an email that the move confirms his position that the original ban signed in late January was unconstitutional -- a fake news spin on a normal DOJ filing meant to clear the calendar of a lawsuit that no longer matters. Ferguson said a day earlier that his office was reviewing the new version to determine whether to oppose it. Hawaii has also stated that it will challenge the new executive order -- which Trump officials, including Secretary of State Tillerson, say is meant to keep would-be terrorists out of the United States by reviewing and setting proper vetting procedures. The new ban is narrower -- eliminating references to religious carve-outs and exempting green card holders and people with already-granted visas from its strictures. And, the new temporary bar no longer includes Iraq. • • • HUNGARY STRIKES OUT AT EU OPEN BORDERS. The Trump temporary ban is small potatoes compared to Hungary's just-passed law that keeps all asylum seekers in 'detention camps' housed in shipping containers while their requests for asylum are processed. Unaccompanied minors will be put into child protection services. As one would imagine, human rights groups have heavily criticized the vote by the Hungarian parliament, as the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, called migration “a Trojan horse for terrorism.” The asylum seekers will be kept in converted shipping containers while they wait for their cases to be heard via video-link as part of measures Orbán said were designed to save Europe. He considers the migrants, many of whom are Moslems, as a threat to European Christian identity and culture. Refugees are obviously not happy : "We don't have a life here." And, isn't that the point -- to dissuade refugees from seeking asylum in Hungary. The measure passed overwhelmingly by 138 votes to 6, with 22 abstentions. Amnesty International, one of a consortium of seven civil rights groups protesting against the new regulations, said the proposals would breach EU law and the refugee convention : “Dumping all refugees and migrants into containers isn’t a refugee policy, it’s avoiding one,” the group said, calling the measure a “flagrant violation of international law.” Amnesty called on the European Union to take action against Hungary’s “illegal and deeply inhumane measures.” The United Nations refugee agency said the new law “violates Hungary’s obligations under international and EU laws, and will have a terrible physical and psychological impact on women, children and men who have already greatly suffered.” • Hundreds of thousands of refugees entered Hungary in 2015, hoping to reach western Europe. They can at present be held for up to four weeks if they are apprehended within five miles of the border, but the new rules remove the time limit and will apply countrywide. The Hungarian government stressed that any detained asylum seekers would be free to leave at any point, as long as they drop their claim and return to either Serbia or Croatia, the two countries through which refugees have mainly been arriving. The law, due to come into force in a week, will also require asylum seekers to have their fingerprints and photographs taken, or be deported for non-cooperation. It also makes it easier to declare a state of emergency designed to ensure that no one can enter Hungary and the EU without permission. • Eastern Europe -- especially Hungary, Croatia, Austria and Poland -- are defying the EU open-border policies fostered by Germany and it is creating tensions between the newer eastern Europe EU members and the original western European EU countries. Some analysts say that the UK Brexit issues are minor compared to Europe’s fracturing eastern democracies. Orbán insisted Hungary had to act on its own since the migration crisis would last until its causes are removed and the EU could not be relied upon to do so : “We are still under attack. The pressure on Hungary’s borders will not cease in the next few years because millions more people are preparing to set off in the hope of a better life. The storm has not blown itself out. Migration is the Trojan wooden horse of terrorism. The people that come to us don’t want to live according to our culture and customs but according to their own at European standards of living.” • Enclaves of non-integrated immigrants seeking western social services -- that brings us to the probable link between healthcare and immigration. • • • HHS SECRETARY PRICE LAYS OUT TRUMP APPROACH TO HEALTHCARE REFORM. HHS Secretary Tom Price praised the House plan to replace Obamacare by standing next to two stacks of paper in a news conference. You can watch the video on You Tube < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwV2hOGT7Mc. > Price spoke and took reporters' questions at the Tuesday White House press briefing. He defended the Republican 'American Health Care Act,' indicating the Trump administration has thrown its weight behind it, even as conservatives dissent. Price said : "We are making certain that the process, the decisions that are going to be made, are not going to be made by the federal government. They are going to be made by patients and doctors." The proposal is a House Republican plan to, as The Washington Times put it, “begin repealing and replacing Obamacare’s federal mandates with a set of tax credits and market incentives to get people covered.” Price said in the news conference that the House plan to replace Obamacare “aligns with the administration’s goal of ‘rescuing’ people from the struggling law" which provides insurance that is so expensive to use that many Americans simply do not use it and therefore have no real healthcare. The GOP legislation also provides for limiting future federal funding for Medicaid -- which covers low-income people, about 1 in 5 Americans -- and rolling control of Medicaid back to the states so that each state can adapt coverage to its citizens' needs instead of being forced into an imposed federal system. And it would loosen rules that Obamacare imposed for health plans directly purchased by individuals, while also scaling back insurance subsidies, but permitting Americans to purchase coverage across state lines. Price said the plan is "patient-centered" and lets them and their doctors decide what is best for them. Price also emphasized lowering insurance costs and reducing the cost of drugs and medical services, letting children stay on parents' coverage until age 26, and protecting those with pre-existing conditions. • • • AND ANTI-TRUMP REPUBLICANS BEGIN TO CARP. In the House of Representatives, the American Health Care Act must be approved by 216 representatives. There are currently 237 Republicans in the House, and so assuming Democrats remain united in their opposition to the bill, Republicans can only afford to lose 21 votes. Once the bill goes to the Senate, however, it needs at least 51 votes to pass. Republicans hold 52 seats, meaning they can only afford to lose a single Republican vote in the Senate. More than one Republican Senator has already expressed opposition to the bill. One of those Senators, Rand Paul, has referred to the bill as “Obamacare Lite,” and said in a statement that it “will not pass.” Those on Paul’s side of the issue feel that the American Health Care Act is actually too similar to the Affordable Care Act. In particular, they dislike the bill’s tax credits and its provision that state that insurance companies can charge an individual 30% more if they do not maintain continuous coverage -- a one-time charge that is being misrepresented in the media. Senator Mike Lee of Utah also expressed opposition to the bill saying in a statement : “This is not the Obamacare repeal bill we’ve been waiting for. It is a missed opportunity and a step in the wrong direction.” Then there are several Republican Senators who say the American Health Care Act does not adequately protect individuals who were covered under Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion -- the bill would continue the Medicaid expansion until January 2020, after which enrollment would freeze. On Monday, Republican Senators Rob Portman, Shelley Moore Capito, Cory Gardner, and Lisa Murkowski released a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell which states : “While we support efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and make structural reforms to the Medicaid program, we are concerned that the February 10th draft proposal from the House of Representatives does not provide stability and certainty for individuals and families in Medicaid expansion programs or the necessary flexibility for states.” And, the 30 -member House Freedom Caucus is skeptical about the bill and is expected to hold a press conference about it. • GOP dissenters should remember that Secretary Price said the bill is the “beginning of the process...[and he] looks forward to working with” Republicans on it. When asked if this bill is the one that President Trump wants, Price declined to answer, simply saying that it is “a work in progress.” • • • AMERICA IS WITH TRUMP ON HEALTHCARE. On February 27 -- before the rollout of the new GOP bill -- TheHill reported the results of a McClatchy/Marist survey taken on Febraury 15 - 19. The poll shows that 65% of Americans hope at least part of the Affordable Care Act's current form remains intact, while only 20% say lawmakers should let the healthcare law stand as is, 38% want any changes to enable it to do more, and 7% hope alterations make it capable of less. • That may sound anti-Trump, considering that only 31% want a complete repeal of former Obama’s signature domestic accomplishment, and 4% remain uncertain. One reason for this is that the pollsters found that Obamacare’s provision preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to those with preexisting coverage remains popular -- 71% want the provision enshrined in law, while just 27% hope it is scrapped and 4% are unsure. And, 78% want children to stay on their parents’ healthcare plans until age 26, while only 19% oppose that rule and 3% are not sure. Also, 71% of Americans want federal subsidies helping lower income people pay for health insurance to remain in place, while 24% believe the entitlement should be repealed instead, and 5% remain uncertain. As for the mandate requiring Americans to purchase health insurance -- 45% think it should remain in place, while 50% want it eliminated and 5% are unsure. • President Trump has said repealing and replacing Obamacare is an early priority of his administration and the GOP-led Congress. The President has also voiced surprise over how slowly Republicans are uniting around a strategy for that goal. After a meeting with governors at the White House, Trump said : “Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated. I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject.” • Trump's vision for the Obamacare replacement looks a lot like what Americans want, if the McClatchy/Marist poll is even close to being accurate, and Trump has faithfully supported these key demands since early in his campaign. • • • American Thinker's Bill Weckesser wrote on Wednesday that the GOP should "not let the perfect be the enemy of the good when it comes to health care reform. That said -- the new GOP plan deserves our support. It’s a good move in the right direction. And as for the conservative purists who feign revulsion at the thought of another entitlement program -- why haven’t they been revolted for decades?" Weckesser says universally available individual tax credits would help rid the US healthcare system of one of its biggest problems -- the inequity between those who get health insurance through work and those who must purchase it on their own. He states : "The GOP plan stands a good chance of lowering health insurance costs due to increased competition. We should see more low costs plans becoming available. President Trump is talking about lowering drug costs by reforming the FDA. A long-term combination of competition, price disclosure, government reform and deregulation would put the country on a path of reduced health care costs. This should be the big picture focus. No plan will be perfect. But the GOP -- and the President -- are on the right track." • • • TRUMP AND GOP LEADERS LEAD THE CHARGE. If the new healthcare bill is taking heat from Republicans, the Washington Post says there are "so many awful things about this bill that it's hard to fit them all into one post." Newsweek sounds the alarm on "potentially dire consequences for many Americans," while other sources call the bill "a big tax cut for the rich." [Progressive Democrats still rely on that old outdated attack!] House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says President Trump "doesn't even have the faintest idea of what he's talking about," [remember when she waved the Obamacare bill in 2010 and said Congress would have to pass it to know what was in it???]. And, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer declares that "Democrats will fight tooth and nail." But, where is the real gripe??? The House bill would : Phase out the Obamacare Medicaid expansion by 2020; replace the Obamacare subsidies with age-based, income-limited tax credits; repeal the mandates but add a one-time 30% premium surcharge for those who had previously failed to buy insurance; increase the allowable premium for "older customers" to five times that of younger customers, from Obamacare's three times; and cut "more than 20 taxes enacted under" Obamacare, "saving taxpayers nearly $600 billion over the next decade. • The reality of repeal is that Obamacare has been taking root for seven years, and that the extraction process will be protracted and fraught with dangers, while hysteria reins on the Democrat side. The Trump team is working hard to make this first step of repeal a reality. President Trump tweeted that the "wonderful new Healthcare Bill is now out for review and negotiation." Vice President Pence said the House bill is a "work in progress" and "is the framework for reform" and that "we are certainly open to improvements and to recommendations in the legislative process." Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell called the House bill "a dramatic improvement over the status quo" and added that he could call the House bill for an early April vote, since "lawmakers would have sufficient input as an Obamacare replacement measure churns through House committees beginning Wednesday." Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price "says the bill is just one of three phases," to be followed by a "regulatory overhaul" and "additional legislation to accomplish things that can't be done through the reconciliation process." Senator John Thune said "he believes Republican in the Senate will provide the 51 votes needed to pass the measure because it will be the only opportunity to end Obamacare and fulfill a years-long GOP pledge. President Trump says the House bill is "consistent with guidelines he had set out for [the] long-elusive goal of undoing the law." And the President is riding herd on Congress to get the job done -- Trump is demanding no slowing down, no waiting and no more excuses by anybody. • • • DEAR READERS, President Trump met Tuesday with the House Republicans who are responsible for rounding up votes in Congress. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady says Trump made very clear “this is his bill.” Brady’s committee will start working on the legislation Wednesday. North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry says the President made clear he wants them to pass the legislation. • And, true to his promises, President Trump is reaching out to everyone. Maryland Representative Elijah Cummings says he’s scheduled to meet with President Trump this week to talk about how to lower prescription drug prices. Cummings said in a statement Tuesday that he will be joined by Representative Peter Welch and Dr. Redonda Miller, the president of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Cummings says he’s looking forward to discussing ways of lowering skyrocketing prescription drug costs. Cumming says the President called him in late January to set up a meeting to talk about the issue. • White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney says that while the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office hasn’t yet determined the cost of the new health care bill, he’s sure it will bring “tremendous long-term savings” by giving states more control over Medicaid, the joint federal-state program for low income Americans. The GOP bill keeps the health law’s higher federal financing for expanded Medicaid through the end of 2019. After that, states can only continue to receive enhanced federal payments for beneficiaries already covered by the expansion. But for newly enrolled beneficiaries, the federal government would provide 90% of financing. Mulvaney told “CBS This Morning” the budget office has run its own numbers and is “absolutely convinced” the GOP plan will save the federal government money through savings on Medicaid spending and other innovations. • So, are immigration and health care costs related? It is hard to produce a surefire factual answer to that question. But, when the GOP-Trump healthcare plan rolls Medicaid management back to the states, there will be a much closer control between costs and illegal immigrant 'shopping' of the system. It is one more Trump management-instead-of-federal-control promise being fulfilled.