{"id":5196,"date":"2013-11-22T13:44:30","date_gmt":"2013-11-22T18:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=5196"},"modified":"2018-12-28T15:26:04","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T20:26:04","slug":"u-s-gives-illegal-aliens-29-million-in-prescription-drug-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2013\/11\/22\/u-s-gives-illegal-aliens-29-million-in-prescription-drug-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Gives Illegal Aliens $29 Million in Prescription Drug Benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Law-breaking by illegal aliens may start at the border, but continues\u2026 all the way to the pharmacy counter<\/i>.\u00a0 Although federal law<\/a> bans illegal aliens from receiving public benefits, the federal government paid $28,990,718<\/a> in Medicare Part D benefits to illegal aliens from 2009 to 2011, according to a recent government report<\/a>.\u00a0 That\u2019s nearly $29 million!\u00a0 That is the same amount Congress appropriated for the new Customs and Border Protection officers<\/a> for southwest ports of entry in 2010.\u00a0\u00a0 Instead of the U.S. paying for public benefits that serve as a magnet to encourage illegal immigration, shouldn\u2019t those funds be going to combat illegal immigration?<\/p>\n

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) promises to recover the improper payments and put forth new regulations and procedures to prevent future illegal payments. However, stopping the improper payments to illegal aliens involves establishing a new operational mechanism<\/a>.\u00a0 CMS has offered no timeframe to make this fix, as Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) pointed out<\/a>.\u00a0 It remains to be seen whether CMS will follow through on the fix, but the fact that they didn\u2019t have a policy and controls to prevent the improper payments in the first place is troubling.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more troubling is that the federal government has not stopped other payments to illegal aliens even when the fix is relatively simple, like the additional child tax credit (ACTC) reform.\u00a0 Illegal aliens use individual taxpayer identification numbers (as opposed to Social Security numbers) to fraudulently claim the ACTC.\u00a0 To address this problem, several Members of Congress including Sen. David Vitter (R-Louisiana), Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Georgia), and Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), introduced legislative fixes that would require an individual to submit a Social Security number\u2014instead of a taxpayer ID number\u2014to receive the tax credit. \u00a0The House of Representatives passed the measure three times, but Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) sided with illegal aliens over citizens and repeatedly refused<\/a> to bring the bill to a vote in the Senate.\u00a0 The problem could have also been fixed during conference negotiations over the payroll tax cut bill in 2012, but House GOP leaders let the ACTC fix fall on the cutting room floor. \u00a0The fix has not been implemented, and ACTC fraud continues today.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s about time that Americans start posing the $29 million question to their lawmakers: When will the U.S. stop paying benefits to illegal aliens?\u00a0 <\/i>Until someone makes reform a priority, illegal aliens will continue to get their fill \u2013 and refill \u2013 of public benefits from Uncle Sam.