Half-a-million illegal migrants stand to lose health coverage

My only question is, ‘Why is reason always such an absolute last-ditch choice when communism fails catastrophically, as it simply has to each, and every time.

At least Spain is choosing to try reason even if it is a little too little and a little too late.

El Pais:

Government moves to revoke provision that guarantees treatment and prescription medicines

Nearly half-a-million illegal migrants in Spain stand to lose their rights to free healthcare following the government’s move to revoke a provision in the current law that guaranteed that those without residency cards would be afforded medical treatment and prescription medicines.

The move, announced last Friday by Health Minister Ana Mato as part of the government’s far-reaching savings plans, has sparked a wave of criticism from the opposition.

“From a humanitarian point of view, this is a repugnant measure,” said Gaspar Llamazares, a United Left (IU) deputy in Congress and member of the health committee, on Monday.

The Popular Party (PP) government wants to eliminate the right to free healthcare for illegal migrants in order to curtail abuse by those who bring their family members from other countries to Spain for treatment, Mato said. “Registry on municipal rolls will no longer be the only valid requisite to apply for a health card,” Mato said after Friday’s Cabinet meeting. “Those applying for a health card will be checked out to see if they live here and, like us, work and pay taxes.”

The right to free healthcare for illegal migrants was first introduced in 1999 as an amendment to Spain’s Law of Foreign Nationals. It was slightly modified in 2000 under the government of José María Aznar.

According to the National Statistics Institute, there are 5,711,040 foreigners living in Spain. Of that number, an estimated 459,946 do not have residency papers.

Residency required:

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About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

One Reply to “Half-a-million illegal migrants stand to lose health coverage”

  1. The issue is hot indeed: a couple of days ago it came out that thousands of citicens from Romania had been receiving treatments in their country using the european health card they received while staying in Spain. This means that in the end all healthcare treatments they received in their own country were financed by the spanish healthcare system. This issue sparked a lot of hot debate. The socialists called the actual Prime Minister Rajoy “xenophobe” for this measures against immigrants.

    The revoke is not a full one, however. Illegals will continue to get the very very basic treatments for free, as well as their women if pregnant, and children.