Immigration, particularly what to do with millions of illegal immigrants living in the shadows, has long been a divisive issue in the United States — so it comes as little surprise that undocumented migrants are excluded from benefits under President Barack Obama’s signature drive to overhaul healthcare.
 
But legislation to reform the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system to cut costs, extend coverage and regulate insurers could also exclude more than a million legal permanent residents living, working and paying taxes in this country of immigrants from core benefits, according to a study published this month.
 
The report by the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute said 4.2 million lawful permanent residents in the United States are uninsured. More than 1 million of them could be excluded from Medicaid coverage or insurance subsidies outlined in the bill — five versions of which are currently on Capitol Hill — if Congress does not remove a five-year waiting period for eligibility.
 
Congress is set to debate the legislation in coming weeks, and the prospects for the overhaul are far from certain. But if legal residents are denied eligibility for Medicaid and insurance subidies, yet are nevertheless subjected to mandates requiring them to buy health insurance coverage, the study concluded, many of them would face a “significant burden.”
 
“Leaving large numbers of legal immigrants out of healthcare reform would defeat the core goal of the legislation, which is to extend coverage to the nation’s 46 million uninsured,” said MPI Senior Vice President Michael Fix, who co-authored the report.
 
The study also concluded that implementing verification systems to ensure that 12 million undocumented immigrants living and working in the United States do not receive benefits could prove expensive and may also discriminate against Americans.
 
“Document checks would be especially costly, and would have the biggest impact on U.S. citizens who cannot produce birth certificates or other forms of ID, leading to lost or delayed coverage,” said Marc Rosenblum, a co-author of the MPI study.
 
The measures denying undocumented immigrants benefits are likely to be welcomed by most Americans — one telephone survey in June found 80 percent of U.S. voters opposed providing government healthcare coverage to undocumented migrants. But activists say a bill that left many legal permanent residents in limbo would likely discourage some skilled migrants from seeking to move to the United States.
   
Aman Kapoor, the founder and president of advocacy group Immigration Voice said many high-skilled immigrants including engineers and software specialists were already wary about moving to the United States because of red tape and delays in processing applications for permanent residency.
 
“This will ring the alarm bells again around the world for the high-skilled community,” Kapoor said, adding that skilled foreign workers were “already considering other destinations like India, China and Brazil because the hassle of settling here has increased dramatically.”

Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Senator Max Baucus and Senator Olympia Snowe shake hands after Senate Finance Committee passed healthcare reform bill, October 13, 2009)

WHO has given up on trying to keep any kind of precise count on swine flu, which is just about everywhere now. It's fairly mild but hardly anyone has any immunity, so it will infect far more people than seasonal flu does in an average year. That may mean more serious cases and more deaths than usual, just by virtue of sheer numbers.

It is affecting lots of kids but there are some clear guidelines for health care workers to protect themselves and their families.

Lots of companies are working on vaccines, which likely will not be ready for most countries  until the middle of October.  In the meantime, most patients do not need any treatment at all. People with diabetes, asthma, pregnant women and children who seem to have trouble breathing need prompt treatment, however, and the good news is the antiviral drugs still work well.

Nick Jonas, the youngest of the world famous Jonas Brothers singing trio, told a National Press Club audience on Monday he’s “always had this dream of becoming president one day.”

The 16-year-old singer, songwriter and actor was in Washington to raise awareness about type 1 diabetes, a disease he was diagnosed with in 2005. Earlier this year, he met President Obama as part of his diabetes work.

In an interview with Reuters, Jonas said his own presidential aspirations were not entirely a joke.

“As much as I joke about it and kind of say it to get a laugh, it is somewhat serious. I don’t know if it will happen,” he said.

If he goes to college, he said he would “probably study English and then political science because I’m interested in it.” At the moment, he’s touring with his band and will soon start filming the movie “Camp Rock 2″ with his brothers.

Jonas has plenty of time to think about his future. The U.S. Constitution requires the president be at least 35 years old.

For more Reuters political news, click here.

Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers band speaks at the National Press Club about juvenile diabetes)

WASHINGTON - Former U.S. Sen Bob Dole is a leading advocate for war veterans and a longtime Republican ally of presidential candidate John McCain, but on Friday he sided with Democrat Barack Obama to endorse a bill the Arizona senator opposes to raise benefits for former soldiers.

The legislation passed by the Senate on Thursday is at the heart of a fierce spat between McCain and his Obama, the Illinois senator closing in on the Democratic presidential nomination. Obama questioned McCain’s commitment to veterans, while the Republican candidate blasted the Obama’s lack of military service.

“I’m for the concept … I probably would have voted for it, if we get the money,” Dole told the National Press Club in an appearance spiced liberally with his trademark political wit. He acknowledged, “I haven’t read it, which is not a requirement in Congress.”

The bill would increase education benefits for war veterans. Dole likened the current political battle to the one over the narrowly approved post-World War Two G.I. Bill, which generously funded college education and other benefits for soldiers and became wildly popular.

“I’m for it. That’s how I got an education,” said Dole, who was severely wounded in the war.

McCain said the Senate bill would encourage too many soldiers to leave the military after one term.

Dole’s appearance came ahead of the Memorial Day weekend honoring U.S war dead. He gave a progress report on veterans health care, saying it was improving under recommendations of a panel he helped lead following revelations of shabby facilities at the Army’s Walter Reed hospital.

But in a question-and-answer session Dole also offered views on this year’s presidential race, from the perspective of an 84-year-old elder statesman who lost to Bill Clinton in the 1996 presidential campaign and to Walter Mondale in the 1976 vice-presidential race.

Dole addressed issues including:

– Republican electoral chances, which he said were hurt by the Iraq war and weak economy: “It’s a tough year for elephants (Republicans).”

– McCain’s rejection of a conservative pastor’s endorsement, after controversies over derogatory statements about Jews and Catholics: He characterized his own decision to reject a donation from a gay-and-lesbian Republican group in the 1996 campaign as “stupid.”

  
“My view should have been … what Ronald Reagan’s view was. If they agree with my policies and want to support me, that’s fine.”

– McCain’s health report, released on Friday:  “If age is an issue, I’ll serve with him.”

Dole would have been 73 had he won in 1996 at age 73. McCain turns 72 in August and would be the oldest person elected to a first term as president.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.
 

Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young (Bob Dole, right, with President George W. Bush and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala at a meeting on veterans’ health care in March 2007)

LORETTO,  KENTUCKY  -   Sen.  Hillary Clinton, campaigning in rural Kentucky, on Saturday blasted critics telling her to drop out of the presidential race as America’s advantaged and well-heeled trying to tell the rest of the nation what to think and do.

“All those people on TV who are telling you and everybody else that this race is over and I should just be graceful and say, ‘Oh, it’s over,’” she said in Loretto, Kentucky. “Those are all people who have a job. Those are all people who have health care. Those are all people who can afford to send their kids to college. Those are all people who can pay whatever is charged at the gas pump.

“They’re not the people I’m running to be a champion for,” she said after touring a bourbon distillery. “I’m running to be a champion for all of you and your children and your grandchildren.”

Clinton, facing calls to quit in favor of Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama, has adopted a populist appeal in her bid for her party’s presidential nomination, especially as she has sought support in the rural Midwest and South.

As her campaign accused Obama of being an elitist, she drank a shot of whiskey before a crowd of photographers, posed with the driver of a large pickup truck to oppose high gas prices and campaigned at a farm equipment dealership and an auto race car hall of fame.

Recent primaries have shown Clinton faring better among voters with less education and less income in rural areas than Obama who is doing better among more affluent, more educated voters in more urban areas.

Later on Saturday, at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Clinton continued in the same vein.

“I think we have a problem because too often, folks who are sitting in Washington or on TV sets tell people what you’re supposed to think and what you’re supposed to do,” she said, “and I don’t believe that’s the best way that America can work. The strength of America comes from our people.”

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

Photo: Reuters/Chris Keane (Clinton supporter in West Virginia )