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Illegal Immigrants Denied Health Coverage Aid Again

The federal health care reform law enacted in 2010 – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) – excluded illegal immigrants from eligibility for inclusion under its expanded health insurance coverage provisions. Now it would appear that health coverage for these immigrants will not be in the immigration reform plan the White House and Congress will likely hammer out later this year.

What this means is that the nearly 12 million illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. will not have access to primary or preventive health care unless they either pay for it themselves or can find their way to the scarce number of community clinics sparsely located throughout our nation.  Considering the very low-income status of their group, paying for health care is out of reach for most.  If they do get sick or injured, though, they can and most often do seek relief at the emergency departments run by their community hospitals.  

Approximately 2.5 million of California’s 38 million residents are illegal immigrants, and their lack of health insurance coverage costs California hospitals between $1-1.5 billion annually in unpaid care because they use our hospital emergency departments as their providers of first, last and (often) only resort.  This right is provided by federal law to any individual, regardless of ability to pay or residence status, who is either in active labor or believes that she or he has an emergency medical condition that requires treatment.  A hospital operator who violates this right is subject to a huge fine and may even be excluded from continued participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, a door-closing result for the offender.

(The feds did provide $250 million to California to help defray a fraction of this cost, but that funding authorization expired last March and has not been renewed.)

Thanks to the cost containment pressures at the heart of the PPACA, this cost burden is becoming increasingly more difficult for many hospitals to either pass on to their insured patients or to absorb.  Arguably, every class of patient treated when this law is fully engaged will need to come with a payment source, or even the most charitable hospitals may be financially challenged.  “No money, no mission,” a former leader of one such hospital once said.

The “pathway to citizenship” for illegal immigrants is being paved using bricks taken from the financial foundations supporting many community hospitals.

Your thoughts?

Comments

Health Care denied to illegal immigrants

Submitted by Pat King (not verified) on February 15, 2013 - 3:57pm.
1. The persons, human beings, would not be in our country if there were not a demand for their services in our workforce. Another way to look at is: as long as we, the consumer, continue to buy the cheapest food product without considering the moral question about who tended and harvested these food the use of grossly undercompensated illegal worker will continue to be in demand. If the growers, packers, manufacturers et al would offer a sustainable wage with benefits American citizens would seek these jobs. And, guess what, the cost of product to consumer would reflect that cost. Yes, it would be considerable. WE CANNOT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS. Harverster, processors, et al will be sought at the lowest cost until we the consumer take a moral stand a buy only from farmers, corporations, companies who provide sustainable income and benefits to their workers. 2. We need these people. Therefore our moral responsibility is to their godd health while in our country. This would include: safe, sanitary living and working conditions, access to health care, etc, If one cannot not conjure up their moral obligation to these folks who contribute to our GNP while being poorly compensated perhaps one could consider the bottom line costs for workers in ill health. Just follow the dots. * Juan, an illegal migrant worker, lives in harvester house, which is high density living. Juan has undiagnosed/treated TB. * Maria, Juan's wife, is a nanny for a family of 5 plus she cleans and cooks in two other households on her days off. * Dolores, Juan's daughter, does nails at the mall. She frequents movies and dance clubs. She is responsible for the family shopping. How many LEGAL citizens have been exposed to TB. And for what reason? Because Juan cannot risk medical attention because he would be deported. Or as you state HC is just denied to him. What cost will fall to county, state, insurance industry, and personal wealth? This is an old bigoted, racist bent that need to be shouted down by we the people.

Comments

Health Care denied to illegal immigrants

Submitted by Pat King (not verified) on February 15, 2013 - 3:57pm.
1. The persons, human beings, would not be in our country if there were not a demand for their services in our workforce. Another way to look at is: as long as we, the consumer, continue to buy the cheapest food product without considering the moral question about who tended and harvested these food the use of grossly undercompensated illegal worker will continue to be in demand. If the growers, packers, manufacturers et al would offer a sustainable wage with benefits American citizens would seek these jobs. And, guess what, the cost of product to consumer would reflect that cost. Yes, it would be considerable. WE CANNOT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS. Harverster, processors, et al will be sought at the lowest cost until we the consumer take a moral stand a buy only from farmers, corporations, companies who provide sustainable income and benefits to their workers. 2. We need these people. Therefore our moral responsibility is to their godd health while in our country. This would include: safe, sanitary living and working conditions, access to health care, etc, If one cannot not conjure up their moral obligation to these folks who contribute to our GNP while being poorly compensated perhaps one could consider the bottom line costs for workers in ill health. Just follow the dots. * Juan, an illegal migrant worker, lives in harvester house, which is high density living. Juan has undiagnosed/treated TB. * Maria, Juan's wife, is a nanny for a family of 5 plus she cleans and cooks in two other households on her days off. * Dolores, Juan's daughter, does nails at the mall. She frequents movies and dance clubs. She is responsible for the family shopping. How many LEGAL citizens have been exposed to TB. And for what reason? Because Juan cannot risk medical attention because he would be deported. Or as you state HC is just denied to him. What cost will fall to county, state, insurance industry, and personal wealth? This is an old bigoted, racist bent that need to be shouted down by we the people.