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Southern US Border Crisis
Between October, 2013 and May, 2014 more than 47,000 unaccompanied minors, mostly Central Americans, crossed our border without authorization and over 100,000 more are expected by the end of the year. Unlike illegal entrants from Mexico or Canada who can be legally deported immediately by our Border Patrol without a hearing, persons from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, etc. must be given a hearing before deportation under a Bush-era law.
Foreign Governments Undermine US Immigration Law
The presidents of Mexico and Guatemala have agreed to expedite safe and assisted 72 hour passage for even more unaccompanied minors and adults to travel across Mexico so they may illegally enter the U.S
Reuters News reported (6/20/14) that an aide to the president of Honduras stated at a meeting in Guatemala City attended by Vice President Biden, that, “…‘As long as (U.S.) immigration reform is not approved, the exodus of children to the United States will continue,’ Jorge Ramon Hernandez, the senior representative of Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, said at the talks.”
Obama Administration Non-Response
Rather than increase Border Patrol or establish National Guard presence on our 1900 mile border with Mexico, (as Texas Governor Rick Perry is now doing) the Obama Administration is preparing for long term stays by illegal entrants and is seeking to house growing numbers of unauthorized immigrants in upscale hotels across the U.S. through contracts to various church groups and non-profits.
The Buffalo, New York News (7/14/14) reported that federal agents showed up unannounced in Grand Island New York “at what they thought was a vacant hotel that might be able to house children who entered the country illegally…The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and General Services Administration will be conducting an initial assessment of Lexington Commerce Center in Rochester, NY…and the Byblos Niagara Resort in Grand Island, NY…to determine whether it may be used as a facility for temporarily housing children who have come into the United States from other countries without an adult guardian …”
The San Jose Mercury-News (7-29-24) reports, “Along with dealing with the flood of children traveling alone, the Border Patrol has also arrested more than 55,000 people traveling as families, mostly mothers with young children. Because of a lack of detention space many of those people have been released with a notice to report back to immigration authorities at a later date. The Obama administration has repeatedly declined to say how many people have been released and how many have reported as ordered.”
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick disclosed (7/18/14) that he had been approached by the Obama Administration for assistance. “A few weeks ago, the Regional Office of HHS asked us (and several other states) whether we could and would temporarily shelter some of these children while they are processed under our law for deportation or for reuniting with their families in the States. The request was for up 90,000 square feet of space to use for up to 4 months to accommodate up to 1,000 stranded children. The types of facilities sought by HHS and FEMA ranged from military bases to unused shopping malls.”
And the Christian Science Monitor notes, (6/6/14) “ The border patrol … estimates project 90,000 so-called unaccompanied children will try to cross this year and as many as 165,000 will try in 2015 (up from about 13,000 in 2012 and 24,000 in 2013). Overall, illegal immigration from Central America is now inching toward 180,000 people a year … Children are about 10 percent of that flow, and as many as 70 percent of those children are unaccompanied … Many of the children are 12 and older, and most are boys … .”
The Obama Administration is seeking to house these persons for months and months since deportation hearings cannot be held for this volume of illegal entrants with the present number of Administrative Law Judges [ALJ].
Texas Democrat Congressman Henry Cuellar, who has been critical of Obama’s immigration policy, “believes many of the immigrants will never go home. ‘If you’re a pregnant woman, or you’re a family unit, they’re gonna give you a piece of paper where you promise to show up in 90 days … And I tell you, they’re not going to show up in 90 days. No way.’” [Fox News 6/14/14]
US Customs officials in Texas were simply handing out bus tickets to illegal entrants and telling them to appear in 90 days. Without more ALJs, presence in the United States by the unauthorized will continue indefinitely, and deportation will become more and more difficult.
I believe we can and must eliminate Obama’s last excuse for continuing his Trojan Horse immigration policies and counteract Congress’ timidity and gridlock.
I wrote Governor McAuliffe urging him to identify Virginians who are qualified to act as Administrative Law Judges (magistrates, retired or substitute state judges, members of the Virginia Bar) to assist ICE in quickly determining the status of those who illegally entered the U.S. through our southern border. This is important because many who arrive hope that the federal delays become de facto legal status or at least allow stays of several years.
I also asked two Congressmen for documents from our State Department regarding the true number of actual refugee applications our Central American embassies have received. In the past year, Virginia relocated approximately 2,100 persons determined to be bona fide refugees by our foreign embassies from countries worldwide.
ACTION ITEM # 1
Please contact Governor McAuliffe and urge him to identify qualified individuals in Virginia (retired or substitute judges, magistrates, attorneys) to help serve as Administrative Law Judges to clear the backlog of deportation hearings. Virginia judges with local roots in the community are more likely to administer federal asylum laws and regulations fairly and without undo influence from the Obama Administration than invisible administrators hired by Washington.
Also, urge Governor McAuliffe to ask fellow Governors to do the same in their states.
A More Permanent Solution
Admittedly, this is a temporary solution to handle persons already here illegally. Securing our southern border is necessary to our national security. The Obama Administration testified on July 22, 2010 before a House of Representatives Subcommittee:
“…the southwest border region is the principal entry point for smuggled aliens from Mexico, Central America, and South America. Aliens from countries of special interest to the United States such as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan (known as special interest aliens) also illegally enter the United States through the region…Mexican drug trafficking organizations have become increasingly involved in alien smuggling. These organizations collect fees from alien smuggling organizations for the use of specific smuggling routes…Mexican drug trafficking organizations specialize in smuggling special-interest aliens into the United States…Communities across the country are at risk since among those individuals illegally crossing the border of criminal aliens and gang members who pose public safety concerns for communities throughout the country.’ (GAO report, 10-919T, “Alien Smuggling, etc.” July 22, 2010, testimony of Richard Stana, Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issues to a U.S. House of Representative Subcommittee.)
ACTION ITEM # 2 – State Construction of a Security Fence
Please contact the Governors of the Border States with Mexico, and ask them to build National Security fences in their states just as Israel did to significantly reduce terrorist incursions. If you have friends living in these states please urge them to contact their governors as well. I wrote all four border state governors in 2010 urging them do this since Congress has not done so. Unfortunately, none wrote back.
Had such construction been undertaken, we might not be facing this present immigration crisis or at least not on this scale. Congress has not followed through on protecting us with a secure Border Fence. Border state governors and their legislatures should set up tax exempt foundations to receive donations for fence construction from citizens throughout the country who are disgusted with an incompetent Congress and indifferent President.
You can contact the Governors of the Border States by going to the links below:
Dangers to the Community and to Unaccompanied Minors
As a father and grandfather, it greatly concerns me that parents having difficulty supporting their children would be willing to send their children away. However, our emotional reaction must not substitute for prudential judgment.
Immigration officials are clearly overwhelmed by the numbers of background checks they must do to prevent gang members and terrorists from crossing our southern border. Furthermore, if children can so easily illegally enter the USA, so can terrorists.
Overwhelmed federal officials could also allow minors to be “claimed” by individuals who could exploit them in prostitution, drug activities or slave wage jobs. How many will be recruited by gangs? How many gang members are coming in to the US? Who verifies that parents actually arranged for their children to leave home?
ACTION ITEM # 3
Please contact your congressman and urge him to take action to secure our borders and also to change the 2008 law prohibiting immediate deportation of persons.
Obama Administrations Actions
This Administration calls the influx a new crisis. But they have been soliciting contractors to feed and house tens of thousands of undocumented children for some time. In FY 2014, the Obama Administration has awarded $644,188,522 to pay for UAC’s; $305,865,613 in FY 2013; $215,484,312 in FY 2012; $136,179,511 in FY 2011; $122,163,535 in FT 2010; and $94,700,534 in FY 2009.
The Washington Times (5/14/14) cites documentation compiled by the Center for Immigration Studies that in 2013 Obama’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials freed 36,007 convicted criminal aliens (felonies and misdemeanors) from jail who were awaiting the outcome of deportation proceedings. They had accumulated nearly 88,000 convictions.
Religious Service Groups Targeted
Yesterday, President Obama, with Governor Terry McAuliffe and numerous LGBT activists standing by his side in the White House, signed an executive order (7/21/14) claiming vague authority under the US Constitution, to require all federal contractors and sub-contractors to hire applicants regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Obama had been asked by Faith groups, including many of his supporters, to provide an exemption for religious groups. Obama, in a stunning display of intolerance, defied them to side with activists who will now be able to initiate workplace law suits against church-based agencies.
The implementation of Obama’s immigration policies depends greatly on the co-operation of religious organizations which have received literally hundreds of millions in federal dollars for refugee resettlement and services. Now that the Federal Government has all these contracts with religious agencies they are going to force them to violate their religious beliefs in their hiring practices. Will Obama, if religious leaders balk, back away from his executive order? Will religious leaders choose to accept this assault on their Faith or morals and continue accepting federal dollars?
Conclusion
I was reliably informed a few years ago about a woman working in a cleaning crew in a Manassas building. She did not come to America legally, and she was extorted to have sex with her supervisor who threatened to turn her over to authorities. The victim refused to report this to authorities. How many of these children will be the victims of human traffickers or other people looking to exploit them in this same way?
If we really care about children we would not want harm to come to them. Facilitating the present lawless entry is harmful. Thank you for caring about children and the security of our homes, communities and nation.
Sincerely,
Delegate Bob Marshall
Unaccompanied Alien Children Relocated to Virginia
I have been working to gather more information from State and Federal sources since before word broke last week that the Youth for Tomorrow (YFT) facility right outside my district, in Bristow, VA, might be housing Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) and the possibility of more being relocated to the National Guard Armory at the Prince William Fairgrounds. I have confirmed that there have been UAC being housed at the YFT facility for approximately a year and that there are contracts for more to be brought there. I have not obtained any information that would indicate that more UAC will be brought to the Armory.
I have been informed that no direct state funds are being used to house or care for these UAC but Medicaid funds are used for the clinics seeing these kids in Prince William County and YFT is receiving your Federal tax dollars to house and care for these children. Not to mention that over half of the beds at YFT that should be set aside for troubled teens from Northern Virginia are now being used by UAC.
I have very serious concerns about the lack of transparency by the Federal and State government in this situation. Local officials should have been notified that UAC were being relocated to YFT and there have been conflicting reports as to whether or not this was done. I will be continuing to look into what particular tax resources are being used to care for these children and to look into what is being done to stem potential health concerns such as the possibility of communicable diseases being transmitted by these UAC from the camps along the border.
Additionally, in order to try to help with this crisis, today I sent a letter to Governor McAuliffe (see below) asking him to identify Virginia citizens such as former or substitute judges who could be appointed to assist the overwhelmed Federal Immigration hearing officers dealing with the massive influx of illegal immigrants coming through the Southern border.
The President has said that all of the Unaccompanied Alien Children and other illegal immigrants coming over the Southern border will be deported. Unfortunately, the Immigration system is overwhelmed. Because all illegal aliens coming into the U.S. from countries other than Mexico and Canada are required to have an administrative hearing prior to deportation proceedings it is imperative that we get a system in place to assist the Federal Government with these hearings so we don’t end up with a de facto legal status for these individuals simply due to delays. I’m asking that Governor McAuliffe identify former/substitute judges, magistrates and qualified attorneys to act as administrative law judges or immigration adjudicators to assist in the hearings for any UACs or other illegal immigrants relocated to Virginia from the camps near the Southern border. I am hopeful that timely processing of these cases will be a deterrent for others considering violating our immigration laws.
Please contact Governor McAuliffe and ask him to take this step and any others that would assist in the processing of these cases in a timely manner. You can contact him at 804-786-2211 or through his website.
Thank you for your help!
Sincerely,
Delegate Bob Marshall
Mark Herring Impeachment Inquiry Introduced
Manassas, VA - Today, I have introduced two resolutions in the Virginia House of Delegates directing the two Standing Committees of that body with jurisdiction over such matters to make inquiry into whether certain actions of Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring constitute impeachable offenses under Article IV, Section 17 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
I take this step reluctantly, fully mindful of the seriousness of this action. Impeachment is one of the most serious powers conferred upon the House of Delegates. However, Mr. Herring has ignored all requests to conform his actions to Virginia’s Constitution and our statutes, as well as engaging in a series of deliberate acts which force the filing of these resolutions. Read more
Victories and Stand-Offs
Five of my amendments to the budget passed on Tuesday, and I thank you for all your calls and emails! Because the Senate recessed until April 7, the budget impasse continues.
On Tuesday, March 25th, delegates were presented with printed versions of two budgets: HB 5001, amending state spending through June 30, 2014 and HB 5002, funding Virginia’s government from July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2016.
These two documents were 800 plus pages in ten point type on letter size paper! We had roughly one and a half hours to review HB 5001 before we voted, and three hours to examine HB 5002 and draft amendments to sections of the budget. This made it difficult to complete a thorough and accurate review!
As a result, while I initially voted for HB 5001, I continued to study the massive bill after the vote. Delegate Mark Berg and I found provisions related to Medicaid “Reform” and other vague language related to Medicaid expansion, so, while I was initially recorded as a “yes” vote, I determined that I should file a “no” vote afterwards for the public record as did Delegate Mark Berg who also continued to digest the contents of HB 5001 after initial passage.
I also offered a floor amendment to the two year budget (HB 5002) to restrict Virginia’s Medicaid agency from writing regulations which they are required to do by the Obama Administration for current Medicaid recipients in such a way as to add new recipients. I wanted to close this loophole and I succeeded (with your help!) My amendment passed 68-31.
Language contained in HB 5002 limited any Medicaid expansion to theoretically end on June 30, 2016 giving the false impression that Virginia could unilaterally back out of Medicaid expansion after a two-year pilot program.
Because there are no provisions in the Obamacare regulations promulgated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or any actions by the President to provide for a provisional expansion of Medicaid, I successfully amended the bill by striking this language. My second amendment passed 68-31.
There are two ways that Medicaid expansion can be funded in the current budget. One is a provision by which the Medicaid Innovation and Reform Commission (MIRC) announces that all reforms have been completed and once they certify it, Medicaid expansion is funded. The second way Medicaid expansion can be funded is through the use of general appropriations language directing how excess funds are to be spent, even in cases where such language was not originally inserted in the budget to specifically provide funding for Medicaid expansion.
However, I was advised by legal counsel twenty minutes before the session that the effect of my amendment to remove the first provision might allow the Governor to use the second approach to fund Medicaid, even though the language was not specific to Medicaid expansion. Therefore, I withdrew my third amendment striking the MIRC funding provision. By leaving the MIRC funding language provision in the budget (for now) Governor McAuliffe is precluded from funding Medicaid expansion on his own through the use of excess funds.
Last year I voted against the budget because it contained similar provisions authorizing MIRC to “reform” Medicaid as a pre-condition of expanding it. That made it a poison pill for me then, and it remains so now.
As a result of all this, I voted “no” on final passage of HB 5002 because the so-called Medicaid “reform” commission was still in the budget. I filed the following statement which will appear in the House Journal explaining my “no” vote on HB 5002.
“I object to vesting the 10 member Medicaid Commission with ostensible authority to authorize the appropriation of funds to implement, for however long, an expansion of Medicaid, which I believe violates the Constitution of Virginia as an improper delegation of authority to a subset of the General Assembly.”
In other matters relating to the budget, several of my non-Medicaid amendments had been previously adopted and were already in the budget to prevent any state funding for Planned Parenthood, abortions of disabled children or any efforts by Governor McAuliffe to suspend or modify Virginia’s abortion clinic regulations.
Again, I am grateful for your efforts to contact members of the House of Delegates to support my amendments on your behalf. As the Senate has not acted on either budget, the budget impasse continues, so please continue to call and write your representatives.
Delegate Bob Marshall
NO to Obamacare Medicaid Expansion!
Last fall, Governor Terry McAuliffe said the threat of a government shutdown shouldn’t be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations over the health care law. Now, he and the Democrats in the Virginia Senate are holding Virginia’s budget hostage to Obamacare, threatening to hold up funding for our teachers, schools, firefighters, police officers and local governments. This is wrong! Virginia should pass a clean budget with no strings attached. The debate for expanding Medicaid under Obamacare should be a separate issue.
I urge you to contact Governor McAuliffe, your Senator and your Delegate to ask them to stop holding the budget hostage to Medicaid expansion. If you don’t know who your Senator is you can find out here.
Medicaid Expansion PPP 2/24/14 from Bob Marshall on Vimeo.
The Medicaid expansion has been touted as a way to get “free” money to help underserved Virginians. We all know there is no such thing as a free lunch. Accepting whatever Federal taxpayer funds Virginia would receive would only be for a maximum of 3 years and then Virginia would be required to take up the slack to the tune of billions of dollars. The federal government is hemorrhaging money and even if I thought expansion of Medicaid were a good idea I do not believe adding to our national debt is in the best interest of any Virginian.
Medicaid is already the largest expenditure that Virginia has in its budget. If we were to take on the additional costs associated with this expansion taxes would have to be raised and reductions would have to be made to important programs like transportation, education and many others.
Some Democrats have insisted that if the Federal government were to stop paying their share of the funding for expansion that Virginia is always free to back out. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is no provision in the Obamacare law or in the regulations promulgated since then that would allow any state to back out of this contract.
In addition to all of this Medicaid is currently riddled with fraud. Last year Virginia Democrats agreed to defer any action with regard to Medicaid expansion until action was taken by the Medicaid Innovation and Reform Commission and now they are going back on that pledge. States that have undertaken reforms have found millions of dollars in fraud. If we fix the broken system there will be additional funds to help those who actually need it without expansion or taking on this additional burden for Virginia taxpayers.
Please contact Governor McAuliffe, your Senator and Delegate to urge them not to support Medicaid expansion in the budget!
Delegate Bob Marshall Author of the 2006 voter approved one man, one woman Virginia Constitutional Marriage Amendment Denounces Judge Wright-Allen’s Court Decision
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Delegate Bob Marshall 703-853-4213 or 571-409-0588
MANASSAS, VA -The decision issued by federal district Judge Wright-Allen appropriately issued in the cover of darkness is a syllabus of errors, a compendium of ineptitude, and a farce claiming authority. Legislating through the Courts against the will of the people is lawless disregard for our representative form of government.
Federal Judge Arenda Wright-Allens’s decision:
- Confuses the Declaration of Independence with the United States Constitution (Page 2). Judge Wright-Allen took an oath to uphold the Constitution and yet she seems to be unable to even identify it;
- Vests the judge’s opinion with more social and legal importance than that of the 1.329 million voters who approved the Marshall-Newman Marriage Amendment;
- Makes no clear definition of Marriage, though Judge Wright-Allen makes claims about it;
- Provides no legal distinctions or reasoning why her version of “marriage” must be limited to only two persons;
- Rules that denying marriage to homosexuals is the same as denying interracial marriage. Therefore race is equivalent to sexual behavior;
- Equates the centuries long struggles of Americans of African descent in this country with the life shortening and health compromising behaviors associated with the LGBT lifestyle;
- Tries to equate segregationist practices previously prevalent in Virginia providing for separate accommodations for hotels, restaurants and water fountains, denial of voting or educational opportunities are equivalent to the experiences of the modern LGBT community.
- Clearly misreads the Loving vs. Virginia Supreme Court decision which affirms the possible procreative aspect of marriage that is only between a man and a woman;
- Cites the Fourteenth Amendment as justification for striking down Virginia’s Marriage Amendment even though at the time of its ratification sodomy was illegal in all but five states;
- Fails to explain how homosexual activity can be a predicate for so-called same sex marriage, but can disqualify such participants from donating blood;
- Has pretentions to know more about marriage than Moses and Christ;
- Assumes that anyone who disagrees with her is motivated solely by hate and visceral animus of the LGBT community;
Del. Marshall on WTOP News Discusses Mark Herring’s Refusal to Defend VA Constitution
Manassas, VA – Delegate Bob Marshall spoke on WTOP News February 2, 2014 discussing the Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring’s refusal to defend Virginia’s Constitution Marriage Amendment, also known as the Marshall Newman Amendment.
Previously, Sen. Mark Herring voted for the measure that was approved by 1.3 million Virginians in 2006. It garnered just over 57% of the total vote. Source: Wikipedia
Delegates Marshall and Hope Join Together to Call on Virginia to Take Full Responsibility for Sterilizing Thousands
Richmond, VA – Today Delegate Robert G. “Bob” Marshall (R-13) and Delegate Patrick A. Hope (D-47) joined together and to call on both the General Assembly and Governor McAuliffe to take decisive action for the decades of policy that sterilized thousands of Virginians. Delegate Marshall has introduced HB 74, with Delegate Hope as the Chief Co-Patron, which establishes the Justice for Victims of Sterilization Act to provide compensation to persons involuntarily sterilized between 1924 and 1979 in Virginia.
Delegate Marshall stated “Beginning in 1924, Virginia, to its disgrace, provided a model for Nazi eugenics sterilization statute. Now in the 21st century we must seek to redress this as best we can. Many of the victims of this policy of involuntary sterilization are still alive and suffering the effects. Under eminent domain, government is required to compensate citizens for taking away property; how much more should it compensate for taking away the ability to have a family?”
Hope added, “It’s now time to write the final chapter in this shameful and repugnant part of Virginia’s history. What we’re asking for goes well-beyond just simple words of regret. We need to set an example and take full responsibility for our actions so that the healing process can finally begin.”
Also in attendance was Mr. Lewis Reynolds who was forcibly sterilized at the age of thirteen. (Note a brief bio for Mr. Lewis is included below.) Mr. Reynolds commented that ““I always wanted children. My wife and I would cry because I could not give her children. I sometimes still will cry when I am alone. I wanted children very much. It is hard for me to think that they thought I was worthless.” He adds, “It would be right if they [Virginia] paid for what they took from me. [Still] I served my country and would have died for my country.”
Mark Bold, the Executive Director at the Christian Law Institute stated, “Virginia, in its official capacity, aggressively sought to eliminate entire classes of our citizens, those the Commonwealth considered “unfit” and “defective,” in a cruel, selfish and materialistic effort to create a superior human race. An apology and a pat on the back will not provide the relief that is necessary to the few remaining living survivors. Their injury is ongoing and continues to exist; therefore the debt to these victims still exists in a moral sense.”
Victoria Cobb, the President of the Family Foundation of Virginia said, “Virginia has apologized for eugenics, but that’s little comfort to those few surviving victims who had their ability to have children taken away from them by an atrocious government act. The idea that the government can deem some worthy of life and others not should be revolting to every American. And while this small amount of money cannot begin to undo the wrong, it is one way to hold a government accountable for its actions and, hopefully, to prevent anything like this from happening again.”
Jeff Caruso of the Virginia Catholic Conference noted, “Virginia’s policy of forced sterilization was inhumane and must be repudiated in the strongest terms. While no amount of money will ever repair the harm done or adequately compensate the victims for their loss, the Commonwealth finally should provide some restitution as a matter of justice.”
Jamie Liban, the Executive Director of the ARC of Virginia also spoke.
Victims of the Virginia Sterilization Program can contact: Justice For Sterilization Victims Hotline: 888-643-7497 Website: http://www.sterilizationvictims.org/
_______________________________________
Mr. Lewis Reynolds, 86, a Marine Corps veteran of 30 years, fought in two wars (Korean and Vietnam), married for 47 years, forcibly sterilized at 13. Mr. Reynolds first wife left him because he could not give her children. Mr. Reynolds was sterilized at the Central Virginia Training Center (formerly Virginia Colony for the Epileptic and Feeble Minded) because they said he was epileptic; in fact he was recovering from an injury he received when a rock hit him in the head.
My Alternative to Medicaid Expansion
I URGENTLY NEED YOUR HELP!! My HB 39, to provide an alternative to Medicaid expansion by providing free health care to the indigent through volunteer doctors is set to be killed in Committee tomorrow. There are big money interests that want Medicaid expanded, and my bill would get in their way!
PLEASE CONTACT MEMBERS OF THE COURTS OF JUSTICE CIVIL LAWS SUBCOMMITTEE IMMEDIATELY AND ASK THEM TO SUPPORT HB 39!
When I received notice that HB 39 would be heard tomorrow, Delegate Landes and I asked for a short postponement as a courtesy to the doctors who need to rearrange their schedules in order to testify on behalf of my bill. I was told by Subcommittee Chair Delegate Habeeb that I could reschedule. Within an hour Del. Habeeb told me the bill would be heard tomorrow!
My bill is being opposed by the Trial Attorneys. Under HB 39, if doctors donate four hours weekly of free care to the indigent in exchange for their service, the Attorney General’s office would defend them against lawsuits in their private and charity practices. This would lessen the need for malpractice insurance.
Few doctors serve Medicaid recipients currently because of the high costs. Adding 425,000 new Medicaid recipients to the present one million will further burden the system.
During the Governor’s race, Terry McAuliffe twice said he would not vote for a Budget unless Medicaid expansion was included. My HB 39 is a true compromise in that the poor would get medical care, and the taxpayers would not have to suffer through more tax increases because of Medicaid expansion.
Remember, Republican leaders imposed the last three tax hikes on Virginians, including the 2013 road tax hike. We cannot count on their “Alamo-like” resistance to Medicaid expansion unless the people make their voices heard. My HB 39 would forestall the need to expand Medicaid, and that is why it is feared.
HB 39 will not cost a dime of tax money and will avoid Medicaid fraud because Medicaid would not be used. No insurance billing bureaucracy would be needed to administer the program. Doctors would keep regular patient medical records.
Thirty years ago filing insurance paperwork cost doctors 15-30% of their revenue. Today it’s 60%+ with more to be needed for Obamacare paperwork. (Business Insider, 5/29/13). Virginia already self-insures 3,400 physicians for care they provide in free clinics with no law suits pending.
McAuliffe claims the Feds will cover 100% of Medicaid costs for three years and 90% thereafter. Recall Obama and Mark Warner’s prior failed promises: “You can keep your own insurance,” and “you can keep your own doctor.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control found in their 2011 National Medical Care Survey that 31% of doctors would not take new Medicaid patients. The 2012 Jackson Healthcare Physician Practice Trends Survey found that 36% of U.S. doctors will not take new Medicaid patients. A NEJM study (6/16/11) of Cook County, Illinois doctors found that “Overall, 66% of Medicaid-CHIP callers…were denied an appointment as compared with 11% of privately insured callers…” after women posing as mothers of pediatric patients with common health conditions made calls to identical clinic staff for appointments 30 days apart using the same script but identifying Medicaid or private insurance as payment.
So, a Medicaid card will not guarantee medical care for the poor.
Terry McAuliffe claims that “if we don’t accept money it will simply flow to other states.” This is not true. Virginia’s “share” of Medicaid expansion money (our federal taxes) is based on a formula. For 2016, Congress allocated $372 Billion for Medicaid for all 50 states, with $1.5 billion for Virginia. If every other state rejected expansion, Virginia would not get the entire $372 Billion.
McAuliffe has reappointed Governor McDonnell’s Secretary of Health, Dr. Bill Hazel, who has been working to expand Medicaid since passage of Obamacare in 2009. McAuliffe said, “’I am confident that Secretary Hazel will be the best steward to help me carry my agenda forward and meet the challenges we face when it comes to health care in this commonwealth.”
The Obama Administration has cut from $500 million to $1 billion in reimbursements to VCU and UVA for hospital care for indigents. The news of the VCU/UVA funding shortfall came from Health Secretary Hazel on the same day Terry McAuliffe announced he wanted Hazel to stay on as Health Secretary. Terry McAuliffe would not be seeking to re-appoint Sec. Hazel if he were not also fighting for Medicaid expansion!
Medicaid expansion may not significantly improve health. In 2008, Oregon expanded Medicaid for low-income adults. Two years later, The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) reported (5/2/13) “…Medicaid coverage generated no significant improvements in measured physical health outcomes in the first 2 years, but it did increase use of health care services…” Those words come from the authors of the article, not me.
Science magazine [1/2/14] further analyzed Medicaid usage of patients enrolled in the 2008 Oregon Medicaid expansion. The author’s summary reported on 25,000 Medicaid lottery participants over an 18 month period. “We find that Medicaid coverage significantly increases overall emergency use by 0.41 visits per person, or 40 percent relative to an average of 1.02 visits per person in the control group. We find increases in emergency-department visits across a broad range of types of visits, conditions, and subgroups, including increases in visits for conditions that may be most readily treatable in primary care settings. … A back-of-the-envelope calculation, using $435 as the average cost of an emergency room visit suggests that Medicaid increases annual spending in the emergency department by about $120 per covered individual.”
In other words, because it is harder and harder for patients to receive primary medical care in private doctor’s offices, Medicaid eligible patients are going to hospital ER’s for primary care at a rate 40% higher than non-Medicaid patients.
Because doctors fear lawsuits, many doctors practice “defensive” medicine which consists of ordering medical tests and treatments which shield a doctor from liability, but which may offer little or no benefit to the patient. This drives up general health care costs as well as tax-funded Medicaid and Medicare programs.
An AMA published survey, answered by 65% of 824 Pennsylvania doctors (emergency medicine, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, obstetrics/gynecology, and radiology) found: “… 93% reported practicing defensive medicine. … such as ordering tests, performing diagnostic procedures, and referring patients for consultation, was very common (92%). Among practitioners of defensive medicine who detailed their most recent defensive act, 43% reported using imaging technology in clinically unnecessary circumstances. … Defensive practice correlated strongly with … perceived burden of insurance premiums.” JAMA. 2005 Jun 1;293(21):2609-17.
As more and more Doctors consider leaving the medical profession over Obamacare requirements, HB 39 can remove the burden of insurance claims for care provided by charity doctors, a significant factor increasing health care costs across the board. Relieved of that burden, doctors will be able to exercise their best clinical judgment, and not order tests to avoid litigation. Doctors under HB 39 will have no incentive to encourage behavior that produces repeat pathologies, where voluntary behavior and not genetic history, social condition or accidents, is the major causative factor in illness or subpar health.
Doctors serving the poor through charity care will not waste time with Medicaid. Physicians who treat the poor without charge will have their reputations enhanced, and attract more paying patients. Non-profit groups or churches will be better able to direct only the truly needy to their affiliated clinic doctors resulting in true patient-centered care by physicians delivered in the local community.
The drawback for some politicians may be the absence of political payback votes. In other words, instead of converting citizens into government dependents, the indigent will remain free men and women not beholden to anyone or expected to vote for a particular political benefactor.
HB 39 has the potential to take us back to a medical care delivery model that preceded Lyndon Johnson’s so-called Great Society which bureaucratized Charity by creating government programs and agencies with employees who relied upon the indigent remaining so in order to keep their jobs.
Thank you for your support!
P.S. Without your urgent calls, emails and contacts to the above committee members, we will certianly not be able to cut costs and serve those who are most vulnerable among us.
On Your Side Investigators: Lawmakers tackles cell phone tracking
RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) -
Your phone isn’t just a phone anymore, it’s also a tracking device. Police are dialing up the cell phone companies more and more, often asking for specific information – like a user’s whereabouts or even a call log. Under current law, they do not need a search warrant.
The top cell phone companies revealed they’d responded to 1.3 million law enforcement demands for subscribers information. The On Your Side Investigators uncovered how Richmond, Chesterfield and Henrico County all use the tactic.
Republican delegate Bob Marshall says it’s got to stop.
“Just keep stepping around this, like some people want to do too often, is to jeopardize your life and your liberty,” said Marshall during a phone interview.
Marshall has introduced a bill that would require cell phones to be considered tracking devices. Police would need a warrant from a judge before phone companies hand over location data.
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