[tuffydoodle]

I have a serious problem with the Mexican illegals clogging the hospital system. My son complained of a stomachache one day last year and mommy intuition told me to take him to the doctor (he never complains about stomachaches). Doctor sent us to the Children's hospital for a sonogram since he was suspicious of a serious problem. Sonogram show appendicitis, the nurse took us around to the emergency room to check us in and it was wall-to-wall Mexicans, no white or black people in sight. We went straight in and my son had an emergency appendectomy but I tell ya, if I had of gone to the emergency room first, we'd still be sitting there waiting. It burns me up that all those illegals clog the hospital and get free care while us legal American citizens play second fiddle. We not only have to wait in line for hours at the hospital but pay ridiculous prices for health insurance while illegals get our state of the art care for free.

End of rant.

[Blueflag]

Tuffy --

In a different part of town, it would be a different ethnic group clogging the emergency room. Meaning (generally) poor whites in rural areas, poor blacks in urban areas, poor Vietnamese/Chinese etc etc. They go to the ED (emergency dept) because they can and it's free (to them) AND because it is their version of health care.

ED's triage all patients coming in the door, and your daughter, as a referral from a family physician, presenting with symptoms of appendicitis, would not have to wait behind a bunch of poor folks whose kids have the sniffles and a fever. You daughter might have to wait behind two gunshot wounds, automobile accident trauma, a TIA and diabetic in a coma, but not a bunch of poor folk using the ED as their family physician.

You should know that illegals do not place the highest burden on our health care system. They *do* burden individual hospitals and state systems.

The highest cost area - nearly 80% of all US healthcare costs are caused/incurred by 15% of the population: folks who are chronic care. The classic example is the non-compliant, elderly, obese, hypertensive, adult-onset-diabetic with congestive heart failure and COPD (breathing problems) caused by years of bad diet, no exercise and an erstwhile smoking habit. THESE folks give the US the highest cost-per capita health care costs in the world.

Food for thought.