HEALTH CARE FOR THE WORLD

All of us know that the cost of health care is rising by leaps and bounds. The costs for even minor procedures can take away many years of personal savings. Even buying health insurance can take a huge bite out of your paycheck. I know people that take on a second job in order to be able to get some insurance for themselves and their family. Oklahoma families face these problems every day and I am concerned about a proposal that would expand the welfare system to include care for pregnant illegal aliens in our state.

Oklahoma's Health Care Authority Board recently approved prenatal care for illegal immigrants, saying it will create healthier babies and save taxpayer money. A signature by the governor will give pregnant illegal immigrants in Oklahoma access to state-funded health care. Gov. Brad Henry is expected to sign the plan within 45 days, and it would take effect on Jan. 1.

The cost of living has been going up at a steady rate for the past several years; all of us have had to adjust our spending accordingly. One item that proves my point is how the cost of fuel has risen in a very short period of time, those costs affect all aspects of our society private and public alike. In the last session of the State Legislature House Bill 1804 passed, it was an attempt to get some control of the costs due to illegal immigration. Now we have a group wanting to expand state services for someone being here illegally. I realize that the illegals are humans also, but we should not be giving incentives for someone to come to our state and deliver here.

Even though the children’s mothers are illegal, when they are born the babies automatically become citizens of the United States. Randy Terrell, author of HB 1804, was quoted as saying, “This proposal is simply bad public policy, it creates a new category of 'soon-to-be citizens' that can receive public benefits at taxpayer expense. That is a dangerous blurring of the concept of personhood and citizenship. If the OHCA rule is adopted it will create a slippery slope, where would the benefits for these 'soon-to-be citizens' end?”