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"I am very disappointed," says US Senator Jon Kyl.
Kyl is upset because money he wriggled out of the federal government four years ago to pay hospitals for illegal immigrant care has dried up.
"I'm not at all happy. There's nothing I can do," he says.
Kyl was able to get Congress to appropriate a billion dollars over four years to pay hospitals all along the US Mexican border from California to Texas. It was part of the Medicare reform bill. It's called 1011 money.
"My hope was we could just keep extending it until we got some comprehensive immigration reform. That was my original intent," he says.
But as of October 1, 2008, the money goes away because it was not extended.
UMC, which has the only level one trauma center in Southern Arizona, was getting about $2 million a year. It helps reimburse the hospital for the $6 million it spends annually for emergency care for immigrants.
UMC officials were in Washington, DC last month lobbying for the bill.
"Obviously, it's very beneficial," says Marj Sisson. admissions director for the hospital.
There have been several multi-injury accidents this year involving immigrants, many of whom have been air lifted to UMC.
Well, for one thing, the feds have mandated that hospitals cannot turn away illegals. So hospitals are going bankrupt in some area (particularly along the border). The reimbursements helped off set those losses. Now many of these hospitals will have to close their doors unless the Feds stops the insanity and quit requiring hospitals to provide freebie care to illegals.
The impact on the border cities is un-frickin-believable.
Along the border, it isn't even so much the illegals living on the USA side but the residents of Mexico coming over for their free schools and hospitals that are the problem. A whole lot of pregnant girls get shopping passes and come to give birth instead.
The problem isn't that there aren't any hospitals in Mexico because there are, and many are adequate (as though illegals were judging quality) but they are not completely free. Mexico has nationalized health care but are expected to pay a small portion of their bill depending on income. That should be just fine but these people know they can not only get health care completely free in the USA but if it involves having a baby, they will then head straight to the nearest welfare office.
OMG - this will result in even more American jobs being lost due to the closing of hospitals. Why not give hospitals the right to refuse treatment to anyone who is an illegal? Send those pregnant moms back over the border. There are just times where I would love to kick some Congress you know what.
They could easily change the rules that require treatment regardless of the ability to pay.
But then, that would also impact Americans.
No matter how you look at it, Americans will pay for illegal alien health care, one way or the other.
They could easily change the rules that require treatment regardless of the ability to pay.
But then, that would also impact Americans.
No matter how you look at it, Americans will pay for illegal alien health care, one way or the other.
What they need to do is go after the employers of these injured and sick illegals. Whoever brought them in such have to pay for them. That includes those who feel they must have servants, make them provide them their health care.
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