Posted on 03/17/2002 11:29:18 PM PST by kattracks
Edited on 07/12/2004 3:38:13 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Illegal aliens who fall ill or injure themselves sneaking across the Mexican border are forcing many U.S. hospitals to the brink of bankruptcy.
The hospitals, many of which are located in sparsely populated and poor counties, are spending millions treating the broken bones, heat exhaustion and wounds of aliens they cannot refuse to treat and who cannot pay. The result, says James J. Dickson, head of the Copper Queen Community Hospital in Bisbee, Ariz., is "a tragic and contentious situation."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Get honest. Over half the total alien population is in one state alone - Kalifornia.
Why should people in 49 other states run a continuous subsidy for "cheap labor" for the grandees of Kalifornia wanting inexpensive gardeners to blow the leaves off their lawns, do low-skill jobs in their restaurants, and generally be a serf class throughout Southern Kalifornia's economy?
Indeed, the vast majority of all aliens in the U.S. live in just six states - Kalifornia, New York, Illinois, Texas, Florida, and New Jersey. Why should people of 44 other states - all in Red Nation - be taxed to run a continuous subsidy program so that the grandees of six states, all but one or two in Blue Nation, can have "cheap labor?"
Any "federal" (meaning Red Nation tax money) bailout for those fistful of states where this is a huge problem would remove any incentive for officials in those states to get serious about illegal immigration.
IMMIGRATION resource library: public-health facts, court decisions, local INS numbers!
Communism takes control of a society in little tiny bites. Each one so small it hardly seems noticeable. An unfunded mandate like this is just a strange and twisted tax on a very small slice of one industry. Hardly enough to piss any significant group of people off, but certainly enough to destroy dozens of fine hospitals, manned by fine and courageous Americans.
I would suggest the owners of these hospitals simply close their doors. That is the only way to get any attention on the problem. So long as they continue to scrape together enough resources to keep their doors open, the congress will think it has done a good thing.
The term "blood boiling" doesn't begin to describe my contempt for this article or the person who could make the assinine comment highlighted in red.
Californians have been screaming from the rooftops over this issue. They've been doing it for twenty ------- years! We have been providing healthcare to indigent patients, illegal aliens whenever they present themselves. How many times must I say that over 90% of all births to Los Angeles County owned hospital are to illegal immigrants before some major media outlet catches on? How many times must we discuss the bursting at the seams LAUSD whose student populace is more than 1/3rd the children of illegal immigrants? How many times must we discuss the issue of the $3 billion dollar price tag for schooling the illegal segment of the LAUSD.
Arizona, with all due respect, you are not the worst case. Traditionally California has taken in 50% of all immigrants. We have taken in at least that of the illegal immigrants. We are one state. We have bared the same burden shared by 49 other states. Get it?
Let me tell a little story about one indigent patient. People traditionally think of maternity services when they think of illegal aliens. The truth is every medical service under the sun is provided to illegal aliens. Internal medicine, psychological care, maternity, surgery and other services are extended to them.
I'm going to tell you a story about one indigent. I do not know if it was an illegal or not. It makes no difference, because it could just as easily have been. And it may have been, I'm just not sure.
We admitted a patient to our hospital. Services were provided. Complications set in and we soon found ourselves with a patient that we couldn't get rid of. The patient's bill was capitated by the state. We recieved some stipend for the proper charge code, then we were on our own. Because complications had set in, the hospital's legal staff was reluctant to discharge this patient against his wishes. Being an indigent patient, this person determined that they had life easier on the inside, rather than if they were discharged.
Over nine to fifteen months, can't remember the exact term of this patient's "visit", they ran up a tab of over $450,000. This patient was one of the biggest A.H.s on the face of the planet. They made demands that would have led any normal person want to... Their family came to visit. They'd come in with suitcases. They'd leave with suitcases filled with linens and anything else that wasn't tied down.
Let me tell you, those who work in the healthcare industry in California have seen it all. Arizona, get in line. If you think you've seen the worst of it, dream on.
This is an important issue. The fact that it is reported at all is amazing. The fact that they chose Arizona to spotlight was unfortunate, since Arizona's outlay is probably 5% of what California's is. The media is very skillful in their ability to spotlight an issue yet prevent it from seeming to be the massive problem that it actually is. The stupid comment by the lady from Arizona simply gave the media the cover to ignore California's massive illegal immigrant healthcare related debt.
You can't even get an appendectomy until you are about to burst.
What's really sad about this whole cheap labor issue is there are enough illegal immigrants hanging out on corners and lots in Southern California to handle much of the low-skilled, low-paid jobs in the entire country. Don't believe me? Come for a visit and I'll show you the thousands of day laborers just standing around.
So all you open borders types, just how many do we need to mow our lawns, pick our crops, watch our kids, serve our food, etc.? Yes, I know, they're just looking for a better life. So is most of the planet's population. Where do we draw the line for admittance to the American Dream? 4,000,000 a year? 10,000,000 a year? 63,000,000 a year? 172,000,000 a year? 835,000,000? A billion?
At what point does that "better" standard of living begin to deteriorate? What's the number, folks? There's some 6,000,000,000 people on this planet and many, if not most of them, live below our alleged poverty line...which includes a moderate house, a car, television, phone, and other conveniences. So how many? I'm sick of all the stupid racist arguements...I want to know how many our society can absorb before we become what they are fleeing. I'd also like to see a legitimate agruement as to why a society doesn't have the right to maintain its designated standards.
Education should also be the concern of these two. It is another basic need for the assimilation into our society. It also is causing school districts problems with their budgets and should be funded by the Federal government as the cost of doing business with Mexico. After toting up the costs and problems involved, it might be more reasonable to take care of the Mexicans at home for Vincinte rather than sending them to the US to free-load from the states.
It's very simple. Those very-few states choice of both high welfare benefits and even welfare for aliens not funded by Washington entices illegals to them!
Kalifornia and Texas are both border states - each having long borders with Mexico. Whey do you think half the total aliens in the U.S. are in Kalifornia - rather than Texas?
If you would check the statistics in any of the border counties ---which are getting to be many because they keep adding to them, you'll see these people aren't all working, the local taxpayers and insurance payers cannot possibly continue to provide free health care ---along with free education, jails and all the rest. It's a failure of the federal INS, the burden should be on all Americans not just a few.
We see girls from Mexico who never had prenatal care come over when they're ready to go into labor ---they sit out in the parking lot until their labor is advanced so they can't be taken back, they aren't anyone's cheap employee, once the baby is born, they'll get WIC, food stamps and the rest ---but who has to pay for the free delivery ---often with complications.
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