Next month, Congress will consider an immigration reform bill introduced by
Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ). A component of the bill would
require employers to provide health insurance to all workers who are registered
immigrants. To be sure, immigrants who lawfully enter the country to work, and
who pay taxes, should have access to health insurance. But this bill is poorly
reasoned and has the potential to create tremendous problems.
Although the bill will mandate that employers provide health insurance coverage
to immigrants, this is a luxury that no American enjoys. Employers are not
required to provide health insurance to citizens. At the very least, this will
provoke animosity and tension between immigrants and citizens. At its worst,
this will result in an increase in American workers without insurance.
Employers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with the pace of
health care costs. According to a survey conducted by Salary.Com, 90 percent of
small businesses will spend more on their employees' health insurance in 2005
than they spent in 2004. Half of the companies surveyed reported that health
care costs are increasing at an average yearly rate of 10 percent to 20 percent.
Almost one-tenth of the companies in the survey complained that health care
costs are increasing at an annual rate of 30 percent or more.
A report released this summer by PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed that one-fourth
of large corporations have seen a double-digit increase in health care costs in
recent years. The companies surveyed for the report indicated that per-employee
health care costs have increased 12 percent since last year, and they expect an
increase of 11 percent for the coming year. These employers reported spending 12
to 15 percent of their annual payroll on health insurance. This is an increase
of eight percent since 2000.
According to a recent study by Hewitt Associates, most employers will pay an
average of 12.6 percent more for workers' HMO coverage in 2006. HMOs insure
approximately one-fifth of all privately insured workers. Humana has announced
the largest increase for 2006, at 23 percent. Kaiser-Permanente, a non-profit
HMO, has announced the smallest increase at 10 percent. WellPoint, the largest
insurance provider in America, intends to increase their rates by 16 percent
next year. UnitedHealth Group, the second largest insurer, has projected an 11
percent increase for 2006.
The immigration reform bill, by mandating that employers provide health
insurance to their immigrant workers, would have a disastrous effect on American
workers. Some employers, perhaps even many, would simply discontinue providing
health insurance benefits to its workers who are citizens. This would be the
easiest way for employers to offset health care costs. In fact, the Salary.Com
survey found that14 percent of businesses are already actively encouraging their
employees not to enroll in their health plans.
California, a state with a large immigrant population, has seen a 13 percent
decline in employer-sponsored health care since 2000 among low-wage earners.
Among all workers, the state has experienced a three percent decline in
employer-sponsored health coverage in the last five years. Arindrajit Dube, an
economist at the University of California-Berkley who recently analyzed that
state's health insurance crisis noted, "The most alarming thing is that
precisely where we are seeing job growth in California, that is where we are
seeing the biggest declines of employer sponsored health care."
Nationally, the percentage of all companies offering health benefits to their
employees has declined nine percent since 2000, according to a study by The
Kaiser Family Foundation. This decrease has been driven by a substantial decline
in the percentage of small companies (those with three to 199 employees)
offering health insurance, which has fallen from 68 percent to 59 percent in the
last five years. Fifty-seven percent of the smallest companies, those with less
than 10 employees, no longer offer health coverage.
Many small companies, and even some large companies, will likely discontinue
health insurance to their workers who are American citizens if the law forces
them to provide coverage to immigrants. While Republican Senators Cornyn and Kyl
proposed this bill with good intentions, the end result would almost certainly
be fewer American workers with health coverage. A more common-sense approach to
the widespread lack of health insurance is some form of universal health care.
Then, there would be no distinctions between American citizens and registered
immigrants.
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Gene C. Gerard taught American history at a small college in suburban Dallas, and is a contributing author to the forthcoming book “Americans at War,” to be published by Greenwood Press. His previous articles have appeared in Political Affairs Magazine, Dissident Voice, The Free Press, OrbStandard, Intervention Magazine, The Modern Tribune, and The Palestine Chronicle
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