Joe Wilson Voted to Provide Taxpayer Money for Illegal Immigrants' HealthcareRep. Joe Wilson [R, SC-2], shouted “You lie!” at President Obama when he said that the healthcare bill would not cover illegal immigrants. “The supporters of the government takeover of healthcare and liberals who want to give healthcare to illegals are using my opposition as an excuse to distract from the critical questions being raised about this poorly conceived plan,” Wilson
said the next day in a campaign fundraising video.
However, in 2003, Wilson
voted to provide federal funds for illegal immigrants’ healthcare. The vote came on the
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, which contained
Sec. 1011 authorizing $250,000 annually between 2003 and 2008 for government reimbursements to hospitals who provide treatment for uninsured illegal immigrants. The program has been extended through 2009 and there is currently
a bipartisan bill in Congress to make it permanent.
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