Obamacare

Rep. Lamar Smith: Obamacare Fund Used to Promote Amnesty

Article title: 
Rep. Lamar Smith: Obamacare Fund Used to Promote Amnesty
Article subtitle: 
Article author: 
Joel Himelfarb
Article publisher: 
Newsmax
Article date: 
Fri, 10/31/2014
Article importance: 
High
Article body: 

A new "public health fund" created under Obamacare has turned into a political slush fund, financing projects that have little to do with providing affordable health care to Americans, according to a senior House lawmaker, former Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith. 

In a blistering letter to House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, Rep. Smith, a 10-term Texas Republican, wrote that the Prevention and Public Health Fund created under the 2010 healthcare overhaul is being used to finance television ads promoting amnesty programs for illegal aliens.

Smith pointed to a report by CNS News that the Department of Health and Human Services gave a $15 million grant to an organization called the California Endowment, a vocal advocate for Obamacare. Newsbusters (a media watchdog group which, like CNS News, is part of the Media Research Center) reported that one advertisement sponsored by the California Endowment which aired on the Spanish-language television outlet Univision "focuses not on health care, but rather on reminding undocumented [illegal] immigrants to renew their Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA) permits."

The DACA program is an Obama Administration initiative awarding renewable two-year grants of legal status—  including Social Security numbers and work cards —  to illegals who say they arrived in the United States prior to their 16th birthday. The administration says it is using its "prosecutorial" discretion" over when to arrest and deport those illegally in the country. Critics counter that the implementation of DACA is a violation of the Constitution: President Obama could not persuade Congress to enact amnesty into law, so he usurped lawmakers’ powers and acted unilaterally. 


 

HHS OFFICIAL: IMMIGRANTS WHO ARE 'LAWFULLY PRESENT' BUT NOT CITIZENS QUALIFY FOR OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES

Article title: 
HHS OFFICIAL: IMMIGRANTS WHO ARE 'LAWFULLY PRESENT' BUT NOT CITIZENS QUALIFY FOR OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES
Article author: 
Matthew Boyle
Article publisher: 
Brietbart News
Article date: 
Wed, 08/07/2013
Article importance: 
Medium
Article body: 

 During little-noticed testimony last Thursday before the House Ways and Means Committee on the implementation of Obamacare, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Insurance Oversight Director Gary Cohen told lawmakers that anyone “lawfully present” inside the United States would qualify for Obamacare subsidies even if they are not citizens.

“It was my understanding it was just going to be those that are citizens of the United States or here as permanent legal residents,” Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA) asked Cohen at the hearing, an exchange first picked up by PJ Media’s Nick Ballasy. “Are there folks beyond that that are eligible for tax credit – taxpayer subsidies under this program?”
“You have to be a citizen or lawfully present,” Cohen replied to Gerlach.
Gerlach followed up to ask Cohen what “lawfully present” means. “Well, you could be here on a student visa and be eligible,” he said.
Gerlach followed up again with another hypothetical scenario: “Somebody comes here to the United States on a travel visa, has a visa for a certain period of time, a number of months, and perhaps wants to stay longer, will that person be able to apply for tax subsidized insurance coverage while here?”
“If they overstay the visa, then no,” Cohen answered.
“But they can apply while they’re here legally, lawfully?” Gerlach clarified.
“I believe so, yes,” Cohen replied.
The Senate’s “Gang of Eight” bill confers “lawfully present” status to all illegal aliens inside the United States, but for the purposes of Obamacare, considers those who would gain such status, referred to as “Registered Provisional Immigrant” or RPI status, as “not lawfully present.” It is thus far unclear if the Obama administration could provide them with subsidies via its own interpretation of the various laws via their implementation.
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