It's Health Care, Not Immigration

Obamas message had a determined tone and he presented various aspects of his policy, but his statement that the undocumented would not be covered was met with a ripple of laughter on the Republican side and the infamous shout, "You lie," by the Republican from South Carolina. The president was telling the truth: his health care reform does not authorize benefits of any type for the undocumented and it continues with an unfair policy of restricting benefits to those legal residents who have been in the country for less than five years.

Excluding these residents from health care reform is a very bad public policy no matter how you look at it. In principle, we believe that access to medical attention is a basic human right. But beyond the issue of fundamental human compassion, health coverage for all those who reside in this country is an issue of health and the economy.

First, there is the obvious danger of the transmission of diseases, not because they are being brought from other countries but because of the lack of medical attention in the face of the local spread of the illness. Next, there is the issue of dollars. Preventive care is the most effective way to control costs. An early visit to the doctor is much cheaper than the emergency room visit by a seriously ill patient.

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