Immigrants said sapping U.S. health care

The Washington Times ^ | Feb. 26 2004 | UPI

[hershey]

Probably illegal.

[KantianBurke]

real "compassionate" of you Dubya. Thanks for putting our health at risk so you can play patty cake with your pal Vincente.

[international american]

Bingo....

[DannyTN]

The hidden cost of free immigration.

[oldironsides]

Many remember aircrafts full of Albanians brought in to McGuire AF Base by Clinton. American taxpayers picked up an enormous tab for every kind of healthcare from heart by passes to delivery of babies. They paid not one cent. They got tuned up and sent back and you paid for it.

[South40]

Uninsured ILLEGAL aliens were the cause of the closing a few years ago of the closest Emergency care facility to me. After losing an average of over $3 million a year, it closed its doors. Now there's an overrun on the only other hospital in the area...you can't get in the place...all because of ILLEGAL aliens.

[passionfruit]

It's about time this was recognized as a problem. I live in Southern Califrnia. I despise the fact that our emergency rooms are packed with "the poor", usually immigrants, who use our emergency rooms as free clinics, because by law they can not be turned away.

They go there for treatment of non emergency problems that you and I go to see our primary care physician for. The problem arises when someone with a legitimate emergency shows up, and they are made to wait (if the emergency is not visably life threatening), usually for hours behind the masses waiting to see the Doc for free.

Been there, done that.

Not only are you made to suffer for a very long time, but then you get tp pay your bill, and through taxes, you get to pay for the guy that abused the system and made you wait.

[Weimdog]

From the liberal LA Times -

"The total the state (California) spends on illegal immigrants is no more than $4.6 billion a year, with CalWorks being a judgment call. This is a substantial amount, but clearly not enough to account for all of the state's budget gap, which is running $8 billion to $12 billion annually."

http://www.latimes.com/business/columnists/la-fi-golden22dec22,1,3576106,print.column?coll=la-home-utilities

We are reaching the breaking point here in California. The cost of schooling and healthcare for illegals and the children of illegals is getting to be too much to bear.

"Demographic studies after the 2000 census revealed that from 1990 to 2000, immigrants and their children accounted not for just some, or even most, of California's growth. They accounted for virtually all of it. Of the increase of 4.2 million people during those 10 years, the net gain generated by the native population was just 90,000, fewer than attend each year's Rose Bowl game."

http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/magazine/la-tm-growth04jan25,1,7373739,print.story?coll=la-headlines-magazine

[hawk1]

What a surprise.

[Hop A Long Cassidy]

Whoever supports Bush's illegal immigration plan (that's what it is) should visit the Emergency rooms of downtown hospitals... and see for themselves that illegals use the Emergency rooms as their normal health care provider.

Further, if a class of employees formerly received health benefits (some types of construction workers for example), but now the employer can find desparate workers overseas who don't demand health coverage, then Bush's program will allow the employer to create masses of medically un-insured workers through the importation of sick, but willing, workers from some low wage third world country.

The ramifications of this immigration proposal are so incredibly stupid its really beyond description.

There's a lot of dimensions the concept of employers having jobs that Americans don't want. The 'don't want' part means "they used to have", but now "can't complete" with a huge supply of low wage workers being imported, who live 6 families to a house. How could the former construction worker pay off a house mortgage and car debt?

Worse, if competitors are allowed to import these pools of workers then every employer must do the same to remain competitive.

What we need to focus on is flexible wages. We should not be trying to race to the bottom of the wage rate barrel by importing workers to displace our current ones. Actually, our wage rates should be high based on great productivity by deploying increased capital wisely.

The big loser is the United (welfare) States because now the new low wage workers must support the welfare of those laid off. This equation just won't work.

There's a lot of jobs that are not so good if you cut the wages by half and cut out the health insurance.

The social costs are too great to import "temporary" workers who are not temporary.

Just check out the Emergency rooms to see for yourself.

Hoppy

[Mike Darancette]

When "Guest Workers" are used the Employers will have to offer health care.

[Missouri]

PING.

[judgeandjury]

I despise the fact that our emergency rooms are packed with "the poor", usually immigrants, who use our emergency rooms as free clinics, because by law they can not be turned away.

Even though federal law dictates that everyone who goes to an emergency room is required to be seen by a member of the emergency room medical staff, usually the triage nurse, federal law doesn't dictate that the patient has to be provided medical treatment beyond having his or her condition diagnosed. Maybe its time for emergency rooms to start cracking down on patients who abuse the system by telling them that the emergency room medical staff doesn't have time to provide treatment for their hangnail, blister, or sore throat.

[stylin19a]

Uuninsured and yet still getting health care ? So, it's not that people are without health care, only that they have no way to pay for it.

Also, the numbers 41 million or 43 million has been the mantra of the Rats re: the uninsured. If this article is accurate, and 1/4 uninsured are illegals, then the numbers are really 31 million. I assume the homeless (which are now back under President Bush) are included in that number.

Also, the number CAN'T stay constant for years, yet it has. It was 41 million uninsured(according to the Rats) when x42i took office in 93. and it's still 41 million ? Pahleeeeeeeze!!.

[MD_Willington_1976]

I'm in the immigrant "boat" now...and I pay my own medical...

MD

[Don Corleone]

Here in southern Arizona we are loosing health care facilities left and right as they cannot afford all the non-paying illegals who flood the hospitals and trauma centers.

[txdoda]

When "Guest Workers" are used the Employers will have to offer health care.>>>>>


Yes, employers will have to *offer* it, but that doesn't mean employees have to take it.

We have a large 'retailer's' warehouse in our area, that is fast becoming majority hispanic. My girlfriend (wks payroll office) says the 'retailer' loves hiring the hispanic's because very few sign up for insurance. This saves the Co. at least 3K per year per employee.

Quite a yearly savings, since many say this co. employs at least 500K that DO NOT have insurance.