With the House and Senate deadlocked on immigration reform, panelists and witnesses at a Congressional field hearing in Dalton, Ga., this week debated the impact of undocumented immigration on the state’s Medicaid program and its healthcare delivery system. The hearing was one of 20 such meetings that House Republicans have scheduled throughout the country this summer to boost support for their reform bill, which concentrates on border security. Supporters of the bill, including U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Ga., say Medicaid budgets cannot support care for poor Americans and undocumented immigrants. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Georgia spent $114 million in Medicaid funds in 2005 for emergency care for 23,972 illegal immigrants. A new law enacted earlier this year requires proof of U.S. citizenship to receive Medicaid benefits, except in emergencies. Critics of House Republicans’ reform measures say undocumented immigrants are scapegoats for a troubled U.S. healthcare system.
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