Amid a deepening border crisis, President Biden faces growing criticism for his administration’s decision to provide healthcare administrative services to undocumented immigrants, potentially impacting wait times at Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities.
VA Strain Ahead?
Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., in an interview with Fox News Digital, discussed his No VA Resources for Illegal Aliens Act, co-sponsored with Representative Mike Bost, R-Ill., aiming to halt such measures.
Warning on Border Strategy
Tuberville described this issue as one of many resulting from the border “disaster” under Biden’s leadership.
Feeding and Housing Migrants
Tuberville expressed concerns saying, “[Biden’s] decided, OK, we’ve got to feed all these 10 million people we’ve let come across the border, we’ve got to house them, and we’ve got to give them health care.”
Veterans’ Care vs. Migrant Aid
He criticized the administration for diverting VA community care resources to undocumented immigrants, stating, “They’ve opened up care from the doctors in these [VA] community care systems. The lines now in the VA’s are getting longer. Our funds that are supposed to go to the veterans are going to these illegal immigrants that are coming across.”
19 Million Veterans, One VA
Senator Tommy Tuberville expressed concern that the VA is already struggling to provide care for all 19 million veterans in the country, noting that community systems had helped to reduce wait times until the border crisis worsened.
Trump-Era VA-ICE Agreement
He pointed out that the VA’s Financial Service Center (VA-FSC) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have a long-established arrangement for processing migrant medical care claims, a protocol initiated before the Biden administration and detailed in a 2020 memo during former President Trump’s tenure.
Migrant Emergency Care
Typically, when an undocumented migrant in ICE custody requires health care, they receive treatment on-site from medical professionals. In cases needing specialist or emergency care, migrants are transported to independent private providers.
VA-FSC’s Healthcare Claims Portal
The VA’s Financial Service Center (VA-FSC) is contracted by ICE to handle reimbursements to healthcare providers in these situations. As per a report from July, ICE maintains numerous letters of understanding where the ICE’s Health Service Corps (IHSC) agrees to reimburse these providers at Medicare rates.
This process is facilitated by the VA-FSC’s Healthcare Claims Processing System, a portal for providers to manage claims and access various resources.
Interagency Healthcare Role
In December, the VA informed Fox News Digital that although it has been in an interagency agreement with the IHSC since 2002 for processing, the VA itself neither directly provides nor funds healthcare
Historic Migrant Surge
Under this agreement, ICE is responsible for the fees associated with claims processing and for covering the payments for these claims.
However, the escalating border crisis and the historic influx of migrants requiring medical care have exacerbated a pre-existing issue.
Escalating Crisis
Recent government data shows that migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border have reached a 20-year high, a key topic in discussions between President Biden and Mexican President López Obrador.
Wrong Bills and Delayed Care
A former veterans’ affairs adviser spoke to Fox News Digital in December about the longstanding backlog of medical claims, leading to veterans receiving incorrect bills and community care providers facing delays in payments.
Election Year
Senator Tuberville is optimistic about gaining bipartisan support for his bill, particularly in an election year with several closely contested races among Democrats.
“I think we’ve got a great opportunity to get this, maybe not to a vote, but at least where we discuss it on the floor, where the American people start to understand it,” he stated.
Push for Bipartisan Veteran Bill
Tuberville added, “An election year is a great year to try to get some kind of bipartisan help on any type of bill, especially when it comes to the veterans. That means so much to us here in our country.”
Mayorkas’ ‘Globalist’ Stance
Tuberville also criticized the Biden administration for selling border wall materials, accusing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of being a “globalist” indifferent to border security.
Can Trump Fix Border Crisis?
The senator stressed the necessity of a Trump-like figure in office for effective border management, saying “If we don’t get a guy like President Trump in office, heaven help us. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
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