Prometheus 6

Considering that we are a Nafta country with Canada and Mexico,,,,do you mean that we ALL three (3) countries should be on ONE (1) National Health Care Plan,,,or do you propose that the United States Citizens (i.e. Citizens) should be with a NATIONAL Health Care Plan,,,what is a U.S.Citizen anyway,,,,someone who lives in the U.S.born in the U.S. by legal means OR someone who works illegally in the U.S. and does not pay taxes OR anyone who lives here be any form is a National Citizen,,,,is there a such thing as a National Citizen??  For public (i.e. U.S. Citizen-paid) support(food stamps, Medicaid/Medical), do all countries qualify for these benefits??  Individuals who are NOT U.S. Citizens but visiting, just because they are on U.S. soil have rights to public/Federal Welfare or Retirement benefits in the United States??

Shouldn't we be asking for proof of U.S. Citizenhip for these participants.  A bonified U.S. Citizen should not be denied help over someone(ILLEGAL) who never intends to work and PAY taxes in the U.S.   Can a U.S. Citizen get Canadian Medical care and apply for medical AIDE and monetary Aide in Canada??  Do U.S. Citizens have the ability to apply for public/Retirement benefits.  I am quite curious as to how many U.S. Citizens get the Social Canadian Medical Insurance , does Canada pay the U.S. Citizen to live in Canada and continue to pay in medical care and monetary funds, while the U.S. Citizen continues to have more family in the home????

I  DARE the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to give the information of how many are Illegal Aliens on Public/Federal Assistance(i.e. Welfare/DPSS)  to the Congressional Budgeting Department of the U.S. Government.  But we All know you won't.  

A lot of money is being spent on those who are not the U.S. Citizens of this country. The United States Government needs to  investigate where all this money and assistance is going into, since we as a country seem to be in a financially tenuous position.

I got a mixed bag for you, Anonymous.

First, the answer to your embedded question.

Natural-born citizen

Who is a natural-born citizen? Who, in other words, is a citizen at birth, such that that person can be a President someday?

The 14th Amendment defines citizenship this way: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." But even this does not get specific enough. As usual, the Constitution provides the framework for the law, but it is the law that fills in the gaps.

Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in those gaps. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are "citizens of the United States at birth:"

• Anyone born inside the United States *
• Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does not impair the person's status as a citizen of the tribe
• Any one born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S.
• Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national
• Any one born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year
• Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21
• Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
• A final, historical condition: a person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S.

I have no problem with the benefits of citizenry being restricted to citizens.

But you should know immigrants aren't the weight on our health care system you think they are.

Heading south: why Mexican immigrants in California seek health services in Mexico.

Wallace SP, Mendez-Luck C, Castañeda X.

Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA. swallace@ucla.edu

OBJECTIVES: To Identify factors that explain why some Mexican immigrants in California use health services in Mexico. METHODS: California Health Interview Survey 2001 data were analyzed for medical care, dental care, and/or prescription drug purchases in Mexico in the previous year. Logistic regressions estimated the effect on use of need, availability, accessibility, and acceptability among immigrants from Mexico. RESULTS: An estimated 952,000 California adults used medical, dental, or prescription services in Mexico during the past year, of whom 488,000 were Mexican immigrants. Long-stay Mexican immigrants had the highest rate (15%), followed by short-stay Mexican immigrants (11.5%), US-born Mexican Americans (5.4%), and US-born nonLatino whites (2.1%). Predictors of use by immigrants included need, no insurance, delay seeking care, more recent immigration, limited English, and nonphysician provider use. Living closer to the border increased use, although half of immigrants seeking services lived more than 120 miles from the border. Mexican immigrants with long stays in the US have a somewhat different pattern of predictors from those with short stays. CONCLUSIONS: Mexican immigrants are the most likely to seek medical, dental, and prescription services in Mexico. A large number, but small percentages, of US-born nonLatino whites purchase prescription drugs there. Although proximity facilitates use, access and acceptability barriers in the US medical care system encourage immigrants to seek care in Mexico who would be helped by expanded binational health insurance.