U.S. to Pay Hospitals for Illegals' Care

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- Health care providers can charge the government for emergency care provided to illegal aliens beginning Tuesday.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued final guidance Monday that sets up a system for reimbursement. Lawmakers set aside $1 billion over four years for the program, created by Medicare legislation passed in 2003.

For hospitals in border states, the additional money can mean the difference between running a profitable business or an unprofitable one, said Don May, vice president of policy for the American Hospital Association.
...
Two-thirds of the money will be distributed to health care providers based on a state's percentage of undocumented aliens. The remaining third will go to providers in the six states with the largest number of arrests of undocumented aliens.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/09/AR2005050900945.html

[WI_DEM]

1. Anybody who needs emergency care should get it, no questions asked

That includes illegals. However, I can see how this might upset some "hardworking American" making maybe $7-8 per hour, perhaps working two jobs--and without any health insurance. National Health Insurance is a right that all Americans should have.

[Wright Patman]

3. BBV means

it "ain't gonna happen" until the return of honest elections.

I don't foresee that happening any time soon. Even when the Democrats were in charge, it didn't happen.

It would be admitting that other countries are right and the might USA is convinced we are "the greatest country on earth." Any suggestion otherwise gets you branded a traitor who "hate America."

[jody]

2. Acceptable only if the illegal alien being treated is held for immigration

and deported as soon as she/he is able to travel.

[pinto]

4. $1 Billion over four years seems a reasonable support for ER health care.

And I mean health care for anyone, regardless of nationality. We ought to be able to recognize health care, especially ER services, as a human need, not a political football.

[lovuian]

5. U.S. to pay for illegal aliens' emergency care

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=ffd9ab9008a857d8&cat=c08dd24cec417021

U.S. to pay for illegal aliens' emergency care
Government will start reimbursing hospitals for treatmentThe Associated Press
Updated: 7:27 p.m. ET May 9, 2005WASHINGTON - Health care providers can charge the government for emergency care provided to illegal aliens beginning Tuesday.

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued final guidance Monday that sets up a system for reimbursement. Lawmakers set aside $1 billion over four years for the program, created by Medicare legislation passed in 2003.

For hospitals in border states, the additional money can mean the difference between running a profitable business or an unprofitable one, said Don May, vice president of policy for the American Hospital Association.

“I don’t know if it will completely change their financial picture, but for those hospitals on the border, this is going to make a difference in ensuring they are there to treat the patients, not just the undocumented ones, but all the patients living in those communities,” May said.

Two-thirds of the money will be distributed to health care providers based on a state’s percentage of undocumented aliens. The remaining third will go to providers in the six states with the largest number of arrests of undocumented aliens.

The states receiving the highest amounts in the current fiscal year are California, $70.8 million; Texas, $46 million; Arizona, $45 million; and New York, $12.25 million.

more...

Now let me get this straight... If your an American with no insurance your outta luck but if your an ilegal alien the government picks up the tab... How in the HELL is Americans going to handle their tax money going for this OMG!!! Ya All know that Ilegal Aliens bring their kids in for fevers to the Emergency rooms right!!!

[Flammable Materials]

6. Illegal aliens do our shit jobs for almost no pay.

I can't get too angry about this.

[Wright Patman]

10. Janitorial jobs that would pay

up to $15 an hour in Southern California are now being done for $5 an hour by illegals who live 10 to 15 people per dwelling.

It is not that Americans will not do "shit jobs"; it is that they are not willing to live like sardines. $5 an hour in SoCal is not anywhere near a living wage.

I cannot believe someone on a Democratic site would encourage the depression of wages to such levels that living 15 to a house is the only way to survive.

One definition of a Third World country is where there is an extreme concentration of wealth at the top combined with a deliberate policy to destroy the possibility of a large and growing middle class. We're already there. America is Brazil North.

[Robert Oak]

7. pretty insane I agree

I believe no one can be turned away but basically
an illegal alien can walk away from the bill whereas a US citizen
is not only stuck with the bill but now cannot declare bankruptcy
and get out of it.

I agree, completely unfair to be allowing illegal aliens out
of the bag here financially and providing tax payer money for it, yet
refuse any sort of social health care or "increasing the cut off"
for Medicaid or any assistance to anyone legal or a citizen.

Just so you know illegals have less requirements than US citizens
to get social security as well...just prove they worked in the US
for 2 months. Bush signed it, totalization agreement with Mexico.

[all.of.me]

8. slap andy in the face, why dontcha! good god!

[Bridget Burke]

12. No undocumented workers being treated at Johns Hopkins....

I'd be willing to wager.

They'll wait until their pancreatic cancer is end-stage. If they're VERY lucky, they'll get sufficient pain meds.

[Horse with no Name]

20. I promise you that

They don't have an emergency room and it is strictly a referral hospital. That's why the cash up front. They are FOR PROFIT, and for profit only. No charity care there.
Anyone that needs this surgery--illegal or otherwise--can get it if they show up at a county hospital that provides charity care.
They may not get the best care money can buy, but they will get the care.

[Horse with no Name]

19. Soooo

what is your solution for those illegals bringing their children in the emergency room for fevers?
Do you know that most of them wait until the child is soooo sick that sometimes the children die from those pesky fevers?
Those darn fevers can be caused by meningitis, appendicitis, organ failure, ear infections, etc?
I saw an 8 year old illegal DIE because she had belly pain and fever for a week and the parents were afraid to bring her in to the hospital.
She had a ruptured appendix for a week. Septic shock isn't a pretty sight--and it's not a pretty sight when the surgeon has to start slicing into a belly in the child's hospital room on the way to the OR to let the pus out to try to save the child.
Even sadder when the child dies despite all efforts.
I'm sorry--I hate that anyone doesn't have the healthcare they need, but I'll be DAMNED if I would sacrifice a brown child so that I can have mine.

[dweller]

9. Hosp. emergency rooms should gear up now for the onslaught

of freepers with massive gaping head trauma.

dp

[screembloodymurder]

11. How do you get illegal alien status?

They seem to have more rights than we do.

[slackmaster]

15. You could leave the country renounce your citizenship, sneak back in

:crazy:

[Bridget Burke]

16. Leave your home & family.

Walk north until you cross the river. Or pay a coyote who might leave you to die in an airless truck.

Take any work you can get; send money home & live on the rest. You may acquire a fake SS card, in which case you pay tax & get NO return. You WILL pay sales tax. If you rent, you WILL pay property tax (indirectly).

If you get busted, you will be deported. If your "boss" gets busted, he may have to pay a fine.

[dogday]

13. U.S. pays for care of illegal aliens

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration said yesterday that it would start paying hospitals and doctors for providing emergency care to illegal immigrants.

The money, totaling $1 billion, will be available for services provided from today through September 2008. Congress provided the money as part of the 2003 law that expanded Medicare to cover prescription drugs, but the new payments have nothing to do with the Medicare program.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/223556_immig10.html?source=rss

Free health care for illegal aliens and Iraqis... What about Americans who pay their taxes, what do we get?

[slackmaster]

14. "Local hospitals praise move but call amount far too small" - San Diego

From today's San Diego Union-Tribune:

...Ann Pumpian, chief financial officer for Sharp Healthcare, agreed. "It's a spit in the bucket," she said. "Though it's wonderful, it isn't coming close to covering the costs of services we provide."

Undocumented immigrants receive care costing about $100 million in this county alone every year, Escoboza estimated.

That means that even if the entire nearly $71 million allocated for California were reimbursed only to San Diego County health providers taking care of undocumented patients, the amount would fall $29 million short of covering the basic cost of that care.

Realistically, said Michael Bardin, Scripps Health's senior director of public affairs, San Diego County ambulances, hospitals and doctors treating undocumented patients might expect to receive 15 percent of that $71 million, or about $10 million or $11 million a year....

[Bridget Burke]

17. Continue to lobby your representatives about Health Care.....

Yes, the undocumented can get minimal health care, too late in many cases. So can far too many US citizens. Rather than turn on the health care industry & the politicians they have bought--attack the weakest.

We are responsible for the Iraqis because our government destroyed their infrastructure. Did you oppose the invasion?

[Horse with no Name]

18. The problem is multi-faceted

Trauma is one of the most underfunded areas of medicine, yet it is the most costly. The majority of the patients have no form of financial reimbursement, and many will not ever lead productive lives again after their trauma. That is why non-profit and not for profit hospitals handle the trauma. You will almost NEVER find a trauma center at a private hospital. They aren't willing to absorb the costs.
Hospitals have to be able to keep the doors open for everyone, and the majority of the time, when an illegal comes through the doors of the medical center, it is in a trauma situation or a childbirth situation, and they CANNOT be turned away per federal law. The hospital has NO choice but to treat them.
Above all--we MUST value life. Not just American life.
They don't qualify for Medicaid or Medicare.
In order for the hospitals to continue treating ALL patients, then the government stepping in to cover these patients basically just throws the hospital a life preserver.
It is a way around other avenues of reimbursement.
Make no mistake, the tag on the box might be earmarked for illegal care, but when the money hits the hospital coffers, it will benefit every patient that walks into the door.