Officials are responding to claims from conservative lawmakers that a longstanding collaboration between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Immigration and Customs Enforcement prioritizes migrant healthcare over that of veterans.
This dispute began in December when Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee, and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., proposed the “No VA Resources for Illegal Aliens Act.” This act aims to prevent the VA from allocating resources to provide healthcare or process claims for migrants.
Military.com reports that since 2002, the VA’s Financial Services Center has been managing medical claims for an ICE program office responsible for migrant healthcare at the border. This center also undertakes similar tasks for various other federal offices under separate contracts.
The ICE agreement has recently become a contentious issue, especially with the surge of migrants at the southern border during the Biden administration.
When introducing the bill, Bost expressed frustration about being “stonewalled” by the Biden administration regarding these long-standing agreements, which date back to the George W. Bush administration.
“I’ll use every tool at my disposal as chairman to terminate this practice and prioritize our veterans,” Bost stated, as per Military.com.
Contradicting these claims, VA officials on Thursday clarified that while the VA processes the healthcare claims using taxpayer funds, ICE reimburses these costs.
“VA does not provide or cover any healthcare for ICE detainees,” VA press secretary Terrence Hayes explained to Military.com. “A 2002 agreement allows ICE to compensate the FSC for processing payments for ICE-funded healthcare. This arrangement, involving no more than 10 employees and fully funded by ICE, has been consistent across every administration since 2002,” Hayes said.
The New York Post highlighted allegations from Tuberville’s office accusing the Biden administration of “playing word games.” They argue that allowing detainees access to the VA’s community care network, which offers private healthcare services to veterans outside VA clinics, could negatively impact veteran care.
“Our veterans could face inferior care options because of this,” a spokesperson for Tuberville told The Post.
Military.com noted that under the agreement, the ICE Health Service Corps (IHSC) program office is responsible for authorizing and obtaining healthcare services for detainees.
Hayes reassured that “No veteran resources are involved in this agreement. The FSC merely performs administrative duties for ICE, funded by ICE, without impacting veteran healthcare or benefits.”
Additionally, in fiscal 2021, IHSC paid the VA $74.7 million for medical claims processing and support for external care referrals, as per a 2022 Senate and House Homeland Security Committees report. This report also stated that IHSC directly provided healthcare to 88,000 immigrants and oversaw care for over 169,000 in other medical settings, totaling $338.2 million in detainee care costs, including $21.4 million from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funds.
