Re your post #49 - LOL...well, I don't want to HELP Gov. Bush's opponents, but, I would say there are a great number of issues of real interest to FL voters of all political parties, and this is certainly one of them:
Hospitals Feeling Strain from Illegal Immigrants - The NYT, Sunday, August 25, 2002 (Story is from Stuart, FL but also concerns other states such as TX and CA)
An excerpt:
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August 25, 2002
Hospitals Feeling Strain From Illegal Immigrants
By DANA CANEDY
STUART, Fla. — In the two and a half years since Luis Jiménez arrived at the Martin Memorial Medical Center emergency room with severe brain damage from a head-on car collision, the hospital here has become his home.
In that time, Mr. Jiménez, 30, a former gardener, has emerged from a coma, had two birthdays and accumulated medical bills of almost $1 million.By all accounts, he is well enough to be discharged, but the hospital and advocates for the patient are in a conflict over his mounting medical bills and future care that makes his release unlikely without a court order.
A penniless illegal immigrant from Guatemala, Mr. Jiménez has no health insurance, and his injuries have left him with limited mobility and the mental capacity of a 3-year-old. Martin Memorial wants to send him back to his homeland for any remaining medical care. But Mr. Jiménez's advocates insist that he must remain at the hospital until it can find a suitable place in the United States or Guatemala that is willing to care for him.
The impasse is at the center of a national debate over who is ultimately responsible for illegal immigrants who require extensive medical care but have no means to pay for it. The issue has become an increasing concern for health care providers, particularly in Florida and border states with growing numbers of illegal immigrants.
Federal law requires hospitals to provide emergency care to critically ill or injured patients regardless of their immigration status. But because many illegal immigrants work in low-wage jobs that offer no benefits, and cannot qualify for Medicaid, they use emergency rooms as their primary source of routine and critical health care. As the number of such patients increases sharply in states like Florida, California, Texas and Arizona, so too does the financial burden on health care centers that treat them, hospital administrators say.
"We have people coming to our country in good faith to work, but we have no system in place as a nation as to what to do when these people get sick," said Pat Austin, a spokeswoman for Martin Memorial. "Each hospital is left to kind of figure out what to do for itself."...
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jalisco, Gov. Bush has done a lot to recruit more nurses to FL, but, at some point, the above problem should also find its way into the current FL gov debate, since this state's gov race has a national spotlight.
Yet, Dem candidates are silent on this issue as well as on the nursing shortage/recruitment issues. And, I am sure Dems' suggested solution to the illegal aliens burdening hospitals would be very different than Gov. Bush's -- as he has in fact been tightening FL's borders.
sarasmom, As a FL voter, do you think the issue I identified in my post #52 is one the FL gov candidates should be discussing? :)
Summer, you never cease to amaze me. Do you have every newspaper article from the entire world that mentions Florida cataloged and cross-referenced? ;-)
As to the nursing shortage this is a national problem. It is a function of the miserable way nurses are treated, overworked, underpaid, overstressed and undersupported. Also, women today have the full range of career options, unlike a generation or two ago. The morale of the nurses where I work couldn't be lower. Of course, the morale of the docs isn't much better. BTW, I'm in the process of applying for a Florida medical license. I'll keep you posted.