Posted on 02/18/2015 9:53:09 PM PST by 11th_VA
Federal law generally bars illegal immigrants from being covered by Medicaid. But a little-known part of the state-federal health insurance program for the poor has long paid about $2 billion a year for emergency treatment for a group of patients who, according to hospitals, mostly comprise illegal immigrants.
The lion’s share goes to reimburse hospitals for delivering babies for women who show up in their emergency rooms, according to interviews with hospital officials and studies.
The funding — which has been around since the late 1980s and is less than 1 percent of the cost of Medicaid — underscores the political and practical challenges of refusing to cover an entire class of people. Congress approved the program after lawmakers required hospitals to screen and stabilize all emergency patients regardless of their insurance or citizenship status.
Some groups say the services encourage people to cross the border for care, while advocates for immigrants say the funding is inadequate because it doesn’t pay for prenatal care and other vital services.
“We can’t turn them away,” said Joanne Aquilina, the chief financial officer of Bethesda Healthcare System in Boynton Beach, Fla., which sees many illegal immigrants because of its proximity to farms where they harvest sugarcane and other seasonal crops.
Nearly one-third of Bethesda Hospital East’s 2,900 births each year are paid for by Emergency Medicaid, the category that covers mainly illegal immigrants. The category includes a small proportion of homeless people and legal immigrants who’ve been in the country less than five years.
Hospitals can’t ask patients whether they’re illegal immigrants, but instead determine that after checking whether they have Social Security numbers, birth certificates or other documents.
“We gather information to qualify patients for something and through that process, if you really hit a dead end, you know they are illegal,” said Steve Short, the chief financial officer at Tampa General Hospital.
A 2007 medical article in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that 99 percent of those who used Emergency Medicaid during a four-year period in North Carolina were thought to be illegal immigrants.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform, which seeks to limit immigration, said the funding led more women to give birth in the United States, especially since they knew that children born here would be American citizens. The group believes that tens of thousands of “anchor babies” are born each year to illegal immigrants who hope that giving birth to children recognized as citizens will help the women gain legal status themselves.
Anyone born in the United States is a U.S. citizen. It’s unclear how many mothers later get green cards or become citizens.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform doesn’t dispute hospitals’ right to be reimbursed for care they’re required to provide.
“Our focus should be that you could save this money if you prevent the illegal immigration from happening in the first place. You can’t do it after the fact,” said Jack Martin, the special projects director for the organization.
Groups that advocate for immigrants say it’s foolish for Medicaid to pay only for the births and not for the prenatal care that might prevent costly and long-term complications for American children.
“It’s a lose, lose, lose,” said Sonal Ambegaokar, a health policy lawyer at the National Immigration Law Center, which advocates for low-income immigrants. She said denying broad insurance coverage to legal immigrants hurt doctors and hospitals financially, prevented patients from getting needed care and increased costs for the health system.
“There is no evidence that Emergency Medicaid is the cause of migration,” Ambegaokar said. “Immigrants migrate to the U.S. for job opportunities and reunifying with family members.”
Data that Kaiser Health News collected from seven states that are thought to have the highest numbers of illegal immigrants show that the funding pays for emergency services delivered to more than 100,000 people a year.
California hospitals get about half the $2 billion spent annually on Emergency Medicaid. The rest is spread mainly among a handful of states.
In 2011, for example:
New York spent $528 million on Emergency Medicaid for nearly 30,000 people. Texas reported 240,000 claims costing $331 million. (One person could be responsible for multiple claims.) Florida spent $214 million on 31,000 patients. North Carolina spent $48 million on about 19,000 people. Arizona spent $115 million. It couldn’t break out the number of people. Illinois spent $25 million on the cost of care to nearly 2,000 people.
Hurray.
Why the hell can’t we charge the country of origin?
My daughter called today crying because she has to pay upfront her deductible for a procedure she needs to diagnose a health problem. Those here breaking our laws don’t have to worry about a damn thing.
These grass crawling illegal invaders get by again and WE pick up the bill.
When will WE elect someone with enough stones to chunk these greasy invaders out of our country.
Maybe we will need to start sooner than later my FRiends.
BUT, the value we receive from them is so great! Cheaper carpets, tomatoes/lettuce, burgers and fries, nice yards, plucked/processed chicken and on and on. I mean we're saving a buttload on this stuff, right? I mean it's not like the employers are just reaping better profits because of them and just laying off the social, fiscal and criminal repercussions off on us, are they?
“BUT, the value we receive from them is so great! Cheaper carpets, tomatoes/lettuce, burgers and fries, nice yards . . . “
There is no free lunch. Cheap labor has a cost. It is only a matter of who pays for it.
What I was saying in a roundabout way. I guess I should have put the /s, but I really didn’t think it was needed. :0)
Just wait until they’re citizens and find out they have to pay for stuff just like all the rest of us. Wonder if the appeal will be over...
“When will WE elect someone with enough stones to chunk these greasy invaders out of our country?”
Likely never. Those greasy invaders will be voting in our elections by the millions.
They will never pay for stuff like the rest of us. We are getting the dregs of Mexico and South America and most of them have very little education and are dumber than rocks. They’ll never make enough money to get off the government dole. Once they are legal they’ll qualify for even more bennies.
“We can’t turn them away”.....why?
Doesn’t everyone HAVE to have insurance now, thanks to OCare? If so, then the hospitals, etc. CAN turn away those w/out it.
I guess the servitude of the Citizen taxpayer knows no bounds to gov’t.
An MBA healthcare consultant-type I met at a party told me hospitals recover 3% of uninsured billings.
So you can figure out who is paying those costs.
If Medicare stopped paying for the invaders’ care, hospitals would send the invaders elsewhere.
Oh, I had NO doubt
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