Illegal Aliens Abuse Hospital and Healthcare Systems
For Southern California hospitals, overcrowding is an understatement. One-third of the patients treated by the Los Angeles county health system each year are illegal aliens, according to county health officials. In the last decade, 60 California emergency rooms have closed. California hospital losses totaled $390 million in 2001, up from $325 million in 2000 and $316 million in 1999. The crisis reaches throughout the state, with 80 percent of emergency departments reporting losses.
Sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it? Well, it just gets worse.
In 2002, the county spent $350 million providing health care to illegal aliens, according to the Department of Health Services. Officials said that if that money had been available, the county could have avoided the closure of 16 health clinics and possibly two hospitals, as well as cuts in services.
Scripps Memorial Hospital in Chula Vista estimates that about one quarter of patients who are uninsured and don’t pay their bills are illegal aliens. The hospital loses $7 million to $10 million in uncompensated costs.
source
Many might think theses numbers are incorrect. I do. I think they are way too low. Don’t agree with me? Well, then I invite you to visit a Los Angeles County Emergency Room.
I see the chaos and abuse on a daily basis. I work in a Southern California hospital. Our ER is burdened with illegals that use it as a clinic and doctor’s office. They bring their whole clan down to ‘hang out’ in the ER because one of the kids has a runny nose. I’ve actually seen them sitting in groups in lawn chairs in the ER parking lot. All that was missing was the loud music and the keg of beer.
Common reasons for visiting our ER are stubbed toes, runny noses, congestion and cough. We also get the famous, “I’ve had a backache for two weeks.” Well, what suddenly made it an emergency at 2am? Couldn’t find the time to go to a clinic in the last two weeks?
The sad part of this is that there are two near by clinics. One of them is in a building that is located in the hospital parking lot!
Last year Douglas Bower wrote an article where he said, “I’m telling you there is a lot of “Phony-Baloney” going on regarding the Mexican Immigration issue. Where are your “Phony-Baloney Detection Kits”? You need them to cut through the “cock and bull” in this issue!”
Quoting a study from 1998, Bower proclaims that “immigrants” are actually 84% below native born citizens in health care costs. He quotes, “Latinos had the lowest expenditures among the immigrants; non-Latino whites had the highest.”
Bower neglects to mention that “the researchers adjusted their figures to take into account possible differences between the two groups”. Or that “a full 30 percent of immigrants used no health care at all in the course of the average year.” Or how about, “Researchers also found that immigrant children were less likely than other kids to visit doctor's offices or take prescription medicines. On the other hand, the children of immigrants ended up consuming more in terms of higher emergency room costs, compared to the children of native-born Americans.”
Forgot to include that information in your little article, didn’t you Bower. Also, the study constantly refers to “immigrants”, NOT illegal immigrants. This blurs the line between legal and illegal. The quote about how “30 percent of immigrants used no health care at all” is another unclear statement. Of course ILLEGAL aliens don’t have insurance, but they definitely use our health care systems.
Sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it? Well, it just gets worse.
In 2002, the county spent $350 million providing health care to illegal aliens, according to the Department of Health Services. Officials said that if that money had been available, the county could have avoided the closure of 16 health clinics and possibly two hospitals, as well as cuts in services.
Scripps Memorial Hospital in Chula Vista estimates that about one quarter of patients who are uninsured and don’t pay their bills are illegal aliens. The hospital loses $7 million to $10 million in uncompensated costs.
source
Many might think theses numbers are incorrect. I do. I think they are way too low. Don’t agree with me? Well, then I invite you to visit a Los Angeles County Emergency Room.
I see the chaos and abuse on a daily basis. I work in a Southern California hospital. Our ER is burdened with illegals that use it as a clinic and doctor’s office. They bring their whole clan down to ‘hang out’ in the ER because one of the kids has a runny nose. I’ve actually seen them sitting in groups in lawn chairs in the ER parking lot. All that was missing was the loud music and the keg of beer.
Common reasons for visiting our ER are stubbed toes, runny noses, congestion and cough. We also get the famous, “I’ve had a backache for two weeks.” Well, what suddenly made it an emergency at 2am? Couldn’t find the time to go to a clinic in the last two weeks?
The sad part of this is that there are two near by clinics. One of them is in a building that is located in the hospital parking lot!
Last year Douglas Bower wrote an article where he said, “I’m telling you there is a lot of “Phony-Baloney” going on regarding the Mexican Immigration issue. Where are your “Phony-Baloney Detection Kits”? You need them to cut through the “cock and bull” in this issue!”
Quoting a study from 1998, Bower proclaims that “immigrants” are actually 84% below native born citizens in health care costs. He quotes, “Latinos had the lowest expenditures among the immigrants; non-Latino whites had the highest.”
Bower neglects to mention that “the researchers adjusted their figures to take into account possible differences between the two groups”. Or that “a full 30 percent of immigrants used no health care at all in the course of the average year.” Or how about, “Researchers also found that immigrant children were less likely than other kids to visit doctor's offices or take prescription medicines. On the other hand, the children of immigrants ended up consuming more in terms of higher emergency room costs, compared to the children of native-born Americans.”
Forgot to include that information in your little article, didn’t you Bower. Also, the study constantly refers to “immigrants”, NOT illegal immigrants. This blurs the line between legal and illegal. The quote about how “30 percent of immigrants used no health care at all” is another unclear statement. Of course ILLEGAL aliens don’t have insurance, but they definitely use our health care systems.
IN THE HILLBILLY ECOSYSTEM
