Posted on 09/12/2009 8:55:17 PM PDT by SmithL
The latest dust-up over President Barack Obama's health care-for-all mission — Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., angrily calling Obama a liar during a nationally televised speech — underscored conservatives' fears that illegal immigrants would benefit from efforts to expand coverage.
Obama insisted that the legislation would not give government subsidies to the nation's millions of undocumented residents. But if immigrant-rich California is any indication, considerable numbers of undocumented immigrants participate in taxpayer-supported health plans.
Although most federal benefit programs bar those who cannot prove their citizenship, California has been more generous than other states. Its taxpayers contribute more than $1 billion annually to cover the health care costs of illegal residents.
The state Department of Health Care Services estimates 768,400 undocumented immigrants will receive coverage this fiscal year through Medi-Cal, the health program funded by state and federal tax money. The cost: $1.2 billion.
(Excerpt) Read more at contracostatimes.com ...
Thursday, July 30, 2009
According to FAIR’s Director of Special Projects Jack Martin, illegal immigrants cost federal and state governments an estimated $10.7 billion a year in health care spending. The numbers are contained in a report that FAIR plans to publish in the near future.
http://cnsnews.com/Public/Content/Article.aspx?rsrcid=51751
And they wonder why their state budget is in the red....
“”The undocumented cost is not as high as people might imagine,” said spokeswoman Joy Alexiou. “The largest number of our folks who come through the emergency department are uninsured either because they lost their jobs or they lost their health insurance.””
Read the entire article, they make it to be such a small number that it’s really not that big of a burden to taxpayers. And yet in this same article they claim they have no way of recording who is and who isn’t here legally.
“$1 Billion = talk about misunderestimating....”
Absolutely, Mike Antonovich, L.A. County Supervisor told me personally a number of years ago that the illegals were costing L. A. County over $1 billion a year for health care using emergancy rooms plus the ones on state aid.
http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/california_immigration.html
Couldn’t happen to a better State. CA, the land of fruits and nuts, deserve what they get.
I strongly suspect, my FRiends, that this is a "low ball" figure.
My guess? It's at least two to three times that, but it's just a guess.
.
ping
No, like, we need to raise taxes! Duh, whatever!
One Billion being JUST the health-care portion of what it costs Californians to subsidize our immigrant populations
my $350/month (and climbing) individual policy with Mega Life gives my California taxpaying self far less ‘free’ coverage than could be obtained were I an illegal on California medi-cal, and yet my taxes pay for illegals to get better coverage than I can afford to buy for myself. Who’s really the ‘disadvantaged’ here?
Hey, I never said I was a "compassionate conservative."
C'mon everybody, repeat after me, "Payment is expected at the time services are rendered."
"Payment is expected at the time services are rendered."
In the emergency room (ER) setting, this would translate into a modest initial fee of perhaps $25-$50 for anyone who chooses to use the ER. Same for ambulance services.
What a concept!!!! People will (trust me, they would) decide on their own whether their "emergency" was worth the modest fee of clogging up the ER, or riding in an ambulance to the hospital.
Realizing of course, that everyone will not wish to actually pay for their own treatment (oh, the horror), here are a few suggestions for other, perhaps more pressing emergencies:
Gunshot wounds? Tell your gang banger playmates to aim better next time.
Knife fight? Take your doo-rag (or the belt that you aren't wearing) and make a tourniquet/field dressing.
Car accident sustained while under the influence of something? (UIS) Hope you were prudent enough to purchase auto insurance, particularly if you have injured someone else. Hopefully they have been prudent as well. Otherwise, you really might have to consider not driving while UIS.
Sudden Heart attack/Aneursym/Massive stroke? Wow. Sorry to hear that. If you have survived, you really, really might want to think about paying the modest ER fee and I would highly recommend you take an ambulance to get there. Of course, you can save the ambulance fee by having a relative drive you.
Giggle. I crack me up...
Wilson should have NEVER apologized and the republicans who shamed him into it should be raked over the coals.
“I bet thats a low-ball number too”
Try 3-5 billion, including various welfare programs.
California even gives cash assistance to elderly illegal aliens....see the document:
http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/2009/08/wonder-why-california-is-broke-senior.html
Highlights:
“California’s cash Assistance Program is for Seniors.... turned down because of their immigration status....such seniors may be able to get almost the same amount of cash as they would have through SSI”
“Couldn’t happen to a better State. CA, the land of fruits and nuts, deserve what they get.”
California was the canary in the gold mine, and the rest of the country ignored it. And now they’re getting the same.
Wilson Defends Outburst, Says He Will Not Apologize on House Floor
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2338590/posts
And you wouldn’t want them to be denied aid just because they don’t speak English would you?
THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 853
Author: Escutia (D), et al
Amended: 4/22/03
Vote: 21
SENATE INSURANCE COMMITTEE : 6-3, 4/30/03
AYES: Speier, Escutia, Figueroa, Perata, Scott, Soto
NOES: Johnson, Morrow, Oller
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-4, 5/29/03
AYES: Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Escutia, Karnette, Machado,
Murray, Speier
NOES: Battin, Aanestad, Ashburn, Poochigian
SUBJECT : Health insurance coverage: culturally and
linguistically
appropriate services
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the State Department of
Managed Health Care to adopt regulations to ensure
enrollees have access to language assistance and culturally
competent health care services as specified, and similarly
requires the State Insurance Commissioner to promulgate
regulations applicable to health insurers which contract
with providers for alternative rates to ensure that the
insured have access to translated materials, language
assistance and culturally competent health care services.
ANALYSIS :
CONTINUED
SB 853
Page
2
Existing law:
1. Regulates health care service plans (plans) and
specialized health care service plans by the State
Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC).
2. Requires plans to furnish services in a manner providing
continuity of care and ready referral of patients to
other providers at times as may be appropriate
consistent with good professional practice.
3. Requires all services to be readily available at
reasonable times to all enrollees.
4. Requires DMHC to periodically conduct an onsite medical
survey of the health delivery system of each plan, and
requires the survey to include a review of the
procedures for obtaining health services, the procedures
for regulating utilization, peer review mechanisms,
internal procedures for assuring quality of care, and
the overall performance of the plan in providing health
care benefits and meeting the health needs of the
subscribers and enrollees. Requires surveys performed
under this provision to be conducted as often as deemed
necessary by the director to assure the protection of
subscribers and enrollees, but not less frequently than
once every three years.
This bill requires the DMHC to adopt regulations by 1/1/06,
that ensure enrollees in health are service plans have
access to language assistance and culturally competent
health care services. This bill also requires the State
Insurance Commissioner (Commissioner) to promulgate similar
regulations by 1/1/06, with respect to health insurers that
contract with providers for alternative rates of payment to
ensure that insureds have the same access to linguistic and
cultural services.
In addition, this bill requires DMHC and the Commissioner
to monitor reporting and enforce the requirements of these
regulations.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
SB 853
Page
3
Local: Yes
Both DMHC and the State Department of Insurance have
estimated that the specified costs of this bill are
unknown, but will more than likely exceed $150,000 for each
department, which are to be entirely offset by license
fees.
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/30/03 - Per Senate Insurance
Committee analysis)
Asian American Coalition
Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California
California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
California Public Health Association-North
Chinese for Affirmative Action
Clinica Para Las Americas
Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
Congress of California Seniors
Consumers Union
East Bakersfield Community Health Center
Health Access
Latino Issues Forum
Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County
MALDEF
National Health Law Program, Inc.
Planned Parenthood of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis
Obispo
Counties
San Ysidro Health Center
Service Employees International Union
Western Center on Law and Poverty
OPPOSITION : (Verified 4/30/03 - per Senate Insurance
Committee analysis)
Association of California Life and Health Insurance
Companies
Blue Cross of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author’s office,
the 2000 Census showed that communities of color represent
53 percent of the state’s population and almost 40 percent
SB 853
Page
4
of Californians speak a language other than English at
home. The author’s office notes that it is crucial to the
health of California’s diverse communities that culturally
and linguistically appropriate health care services be
readily available. The author’s office also notes that a
survey of providers found that over 70 percent of providers
reported that language barriers compromise patient’s
understanding of treatment advice and make it harder for
patients to explain their symptoms.
Health Access writes in support of the bill stating that
one-third of enrollees in HMOs speak a language other than
English, but the current system of regulating HMOs and
insurers does not set standards for culturally and
linguistically appropriate care. Medi-Cal and Healthy
Families HMOs must meet standards developed by the state
that are consistent with federal requirements.
The National Health Law Program (NHLP) notes that there is
strong evidence of health disparities. It notes, for
instance, that African-American infant mortality is more
than twice as high as the rate of non-African-American
infants. Latinos, age 45 or older, have two times the
prevalence rate of diabetes than whites. The NHLP writes
that this bill would help ensure that factors due to
limited English proficiency or cultural barriers do not
stand in the way of addressing these disparities.
Consumers Union notes that the Knox-Keene Act requires
health plans to provide “accessible” and “appropriate” care
to enrollees, and for limited English proficient enrollees
that can include access to trained interpreters when needed
or translations of important documents. This bill ensures
DMHC has the authority it needs to regulate in this area.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Blue Cross of California writes
in opposition to this bill noting that it is already
working with DMHC and OPA on programs and surveys to assess
the cultural and linguistic needs of its members. It also
notes that the California Endowment’s Medical Leadership
Council on Language Access has established working groups
to access the challenges and barriers to care and to
develop specific recommendations. Blue Cross also provides
a list of services it currently provides, including
SB 853
Page
5
enrollment specialists that specialize in foreign languages
and plan documents in Spanish. Blue Cross writes that
since the state, plans, and other stakeholders are working
together to voluntarily to accomplish the goals of this
bill, it is premature to mandate comprehensive regulations.
The Association of California Life and Health Insurance
Companies (ACLHIC) writes in opposition to this bill’s
incorporation of the same standards applied to government
programs to private health insurance. ACLHIC notes that
insureds, under PPO contracts, enjoy a large network of
providers and are not required to seek their care through a
primary care physician. Insurers in these arrangements
indemnify against a loss but do not regulate providers,
however, this bill does not place any requirements on
providers, only insurers. ACLHIC notes that OPA is
developing pilot projects similar to those envisioned in
this bill. ACLHIC would like amendments to incorporate a
pilot project and shared responsibility with the provider
community.
DLW:mel 5/30/03 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
Gee, thanks. I hope your state is next.
“CA, the land of fruits and nuts,”
You forgot the flakes.
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