The principled argument in favor of including illegal immigrants in health reform is that decent health coverage is a basic human right. A just nation should support that right for everyone, regardless of why or how a person is in the country. There are also practical reasons to support including undocumented immigrants in health reform. Ethics aside, there is no pragmatic way to deny emergency care to illegal immigrants. in many cases, it is difficult if not impossible to make coherent distinctions between emergency and regular care that make financial and medical sense.
While the practical arguments on both sides are important, this is one debate that can and should be settled on principled grounds. The problem of illegal immigration should be solved by immigration policy