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Still no solution for illegal immigrants' long-term care costs
Houston Chronicle ^ | October 30, 2011 | TODD ACKERMAN

Posted on 10/30/2011 2:17:24 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

....What is clear is that the practice stirs passionate responses on both sides of the immigration debate.

Geoffrey Hoffman.... describes it as "patient dumping" or "private deportation" and calls it "despicable." Noting deportation is the "exclusive province" of the federal government, not hospitals, he says forcing patients to "accept" repatriation back to a country where there may be no hope of follow-up care can "only reflect badly on our great nation."

By contrast, Mark Krikorian....argues that there are "real-world limits" to the level of health care U.S. institutions should provide non-citizens. He says that it's one thing to provide the life-saving emergency care federal law requires, quite another to provide lifelong, bankruptcy-causing or premium-raising care "to people here illegally in the first place."

Beneath the rhetoric, there's no denying the cost of such care. In 2010, for instance, the Harris County Hospital District [Houston,TX] spent nearly $170 million on the care of illegal immigrants. That was up from $100 million in 2007.

From 2005 to 2008, states were able to recoup some of those costs thanks to federal funding - Texas got about $45 million a year - aimed at compensating states for the emergency care of illegal immigrants the law requires hospitals provide. The program, pushed by Texas and other states that bear the brunt of such care, was not renewed after 2008.

Still, the real problem isn't hospitals, which transfer most all patients, both U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants, once urgent care is no longer needed and the bed is needed for other patients. It's long-term care facilities, unable to afford to accept patients, like Martinez, who don't have insurance. It remains for hospitals, obligated by federal regulation to arrange post-hospital care for those who need it, to find alternatives and to provide care indefinitely if they can't....

(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government
KEYWORDS: aliens; bordersecurity; federalmandate; healthcare; heartless; illegals; perryastroturfing
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Can hospitals sue the federal gubmit over this? Everyone affected should try..Hell, I wanna sue, that`s for sure...


21 posted on 10/30/2011 4:18:14 AM PDT by NCDave (AKA, "That idiot over there")
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
I say all those humanitarians in media, entertainment and long term political life including this so called journalist Todd, should contribute more of thier salaries much like contributing say, to the plight of the starving in Africa to correct this travesty. On a brighter note the overloading of the system is right on schedule Alynski would be proud.
22 posted on 10/30/2011 4:21:32 AM PDT by ronnie raygun
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
"...forcing patients to "accept" repatriation back to a country where there may be no hope of follow-up care can "only reflect badly on our great nation."

No more so than allowing these same criminals to repeatedly flaunt their illegal status.

Given the choice, I choose repatriation. And I can live with myself.

23 posted on 10/30/2011 4:24:49 AM PDT by airborne (Paratroopers! Good to the last drop!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I have a solution. It involves a shovel.


24 posted on 10/30/2011 4:51:55 AM PDT by BigCinBigD
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To: mkjessup

LOL!


25 posted on 10/30/2011 4:58:06 AM PDT by stephenjohnbanker (God, family, country, mom, apple pie, the girl next door and a Ford F250 to pull my boat.)
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To: org.whodat

They *pay* in state tuition after the Feds allow their parents to bring children across the border and then force us to educate them for free for at least 3 years. The Feds can’t pretend to not know which of the kids are illegal, since they collect data on the application for free lunches, which actually asks whether the family is “migrant,” and for the parents’ and the children’s Social Security number.


26 posted on 10/30/2011 5:05:37 AM PDT by hocndoc (WingRight.org Have mustard seed: Will use. Cut spending, cut spending, cut spending, now,now,now!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

One of the problems is that we need a comprehensive immigration overhaul, not just little stabs at fixing individual problems.

We need to create short-term visas and many more legal slots for Latin Americans, who are most logically the ones who will come here to work, and do away with things like “humanitarian refugees,” virtually all of whom now are Muslims brought in from Africa or the ME. The latter group also uses the “family unification” dodge to bring in their elderly and just about anybody related to them, so we end up with a large group of immigrants who may be legal, but are totally useless and go directly onto various forms of state aid.

At the same time, we have stupid situations such as the one that affects one of my neighbors. She’s German and was married to an American. She has 2 (now adult) children who were born here and are thus US citizens and she owns property here. However, when she and her husband got divorced, she lost her green card and is prohibited from coming back into the US now for more than 90 days at a time. She has been to immigration attorneys and struggled with immigration rules for years, with no success. This is clearly unfair, idiotic and actually deprives us of somebody who would be a great citizen or even legal resident of the US.

As for non-emergency (long term) medical expenses for illegal immigrants, I have always thought that the governments of those countries should be billed. And if they don’t pay it, take it out of their foreign aid. This would give those countries some incentive to come up with ways of dealing with this and also some incentive to do better on controling the flow of immigrants.

But as long as we hack away at it piecemeal, we’re not going to solve the problem. However, every time anybody (such as Bush) suggests that we need reform and suggests even the glimmering of a plan, he is reviled and shot down without even giving the plan any discussion. So this, to me, means that so-called conservatives are happy with the chaotic state of affairs now and really don’t want to deal with the issue.


27 posted on 10/30/2011 5:07:09 AM PDT by livius
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To: livius

There is an obvious solution for long-term-care of these illegals...DEPORTATION!


28 posted on 10/30/2011 5:26:47 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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What Would You Do Without FR?


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Where Else Can You Discuss Conservative Issues And Laugh Too?

29 posted on 10/30/2011 5:31:47 AM PDT by DJ MacWoW (America! The wolves are here! What will you do?)
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To: hocndoc

Two weekends ago at a local boat ramp here in Winter Haven, Fl, I observed a Mexican father of about 30 yr. watching his young son (5-6 yr old) who was frolicking about the water’s edge and generally having a good time running up and down the docks. Like many towns in Florida, we are rife with illegal aliens - anchor babies everywhere.

When it came time to leave the boy dutifully sat down in a wheelchair and was pushed along their merry way by his father.

How much do you think these criminals cost us?


30 posted on 10/30/2011 6:31:18 AM PDT by LFOD (Formerly - Iraq, Afgahnistan - back home in Dixie.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife; fieldmarshaldj
He's talking about it, spending millions of Texas' dollars on security and putting Texas rangers on the border.

Still on that "Texas Rangers kick? There are 150 commisioned Texas Rangers in the entire, large state, of Texas and they are by no means, all on the border.

31 posted on 10/30/2011 6:34:49 AM PDT by Graybeard58 (Of course Obama loves his country but Herman Cain loves mine.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I’ve got a solution: Bill Mexico. And if Mexico won’t pay up, start cracking down on employers hiring illegals. Big time.


32 posted on 10/30/2011 6:35:28 AM PDT by mewzilla (Forget a third party. We need a second one.)
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To: Graybeard58
There's only 150 of them in the entire state ?
33 posted on 10/30/2011 6:50:57 AM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Rick Perry has more red flags than a May Day Parade)
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To: BigCinBigD

Soylent Green Rest Home.


34 posted on 10/30/2011 7:10:54 AM PDT by Surrounded_too
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To: Surrounded_too

They produce their own food efficiently.


35 posted on 10/30/2011 7:12:41 AM PDT by Surrounded_too
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I have a solution, it requires C-130 transport planes and millions of parachutes....


36 posted on 10/30/2011 7:43:56 AM PDT by mowowie
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

What about MY long-term care costs?


37 posted on 10/30/2011 9:12:11 AM PDT by madison10
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
This is merely the flip-side of "compassionate entry."

FEDERAL LAW OF "COMPASSIONATE ENTRY" NOT COMPASSIONATE FOR AMERICANS WITHOUT HEALTHCARE COVERAGE

Some Cuts Don't Heal: Copper Queen Community Hospital's CEO Jim Dickson

Lefties think everything is supposed to be one-way; their way.

38 posted on 10/30/2011 9:36:26 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them." --Ronald Reagan)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

Again, just emotional noise, bitter negativity, no substance.


39 posted on 10/30/2011 9:37:12 AM PDT by hocndoc (WingRight.org Have mustard seed: Will use. Cut spending, cut spending, cut spending, now,now,now!)
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To: hocndoc; South40; Liz; BillyBoy; Impy
"emotional noise, bitter negativity, no substance"

In other words, a La Raza Rick supporter.

40 posted on 10/30/2011 9:50:28 AM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Rick Perry has more red flags than a May Day Parade)
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