Thread: CA: Millions lost in emergency room care

Millions lost in emergency room care

By Joe Johnson
jjohnson@HanfordSentinel.com
California hospitals are losing $750 million a year, authorities say, to undocumented immigrants that take advantage of a federal government policy that requires treatment in emergency rooms, regardless of whether or not a patient can pay for the services.

Kings County Department of Public Health Director Perry Rickard said that the situation is "spinning wildly out of control."

"These unclaimed expenses drive up the cost of health care and someone has to pay for it," Rickard said. "If it isn't the insurance companies, then it is going to be the individual."

An act established in 2003 requires the U.S. government to provide money to hospitals that submit claims for treating undocumented immigrants.

California currently receives $72 million a year as part of this program, more than any other state, but California Hospital Association spokeswoman Jan Emerson says it simply isn't enough. In all, according to her, the state is losing $750 million per year.
"Our guestimate is that about 10 percent of all uninsured patients we see are illegal immigrants," Emerson said. "This is an ongoing problem, but it isn't the main reason hospitals are struggling financially, as we have nearly $8 billion in uncompensated care expenses every year that are not improving, either."

Locally, it is estimated that Hanford Community Medical Center loses $15.8 million a year on uncompensated care expenses, which is about 10 percent of their overall annual revenue, according to Adventist Health spokeswoman Christine Pickering.

"It affects our whole system, from what we can pay for salaries to the types of services we can provide and physicians we can recruit," Pickering said,

The exact number of local illegal immigrant-related uncompensated claims is unknown, as Adventist Health facilities in Kings County do not file for government reimbursement in these situations.

"We found that the system was difficult to use and that patients benefited more from our charity policy," Pickering said.

This charity program is based on an individual's household income level. Using this number, a maximum cap is placed on the amount of money that can potentially be charged for emergency room care or visits to Central Valley Family Health clinics, with the hospital itself paying the rest of the bill.

The hospital also has a policy of not asking what a person's immigration status is.

For the future of health care, though, things are looking bleak, said Rickard, the county public health director.

"If we can't have a unified health policy, then at least we need a policy that takes into account the factors that are hurting the individual," he said. "It'll only get more expensive from here."

The reporter can be reached at 582-0471, ext. 3051.

(Aug. 2, 2007)

http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/articles ... 945855.txt

Simple solution, deport all illegal aliens! Wow, that was simple - why didn't our federal government think of it?

I read where 60 hospitals and trauma centers have closed in CA.

AAAAHHHHH!!! start up some more sanctuary cities and run out more middle class taxpayers why don't you, you know the ones that probably had medical insurance! Please cry me a river, hard to get sympathy when your to stupid to figure out that simple problem!


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AMNESTY ALERT!!.....Senator Specter was talking of giving green cards to all illegals on the Senate Floor last night. Time to nip this in the bud right away!!
We need calls, faxes and e-mails going out right away!!! PLEASE GET INVOLVED!! iNFORMATION AT LINK BELOW!!CONTACT NUMBERS: MAKE THOSE CALLS OR LA RAZA WILL WIN!
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=68216
BLITZ AND INFORMATION THREAD!!
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... sc&start=0
-----------"ALIPAC SUMMER FUND RAISER"-----------
PLEASE help ALIPAC stay in the fight against illegal immigration!!!!
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Originally Posted by NCByrd

I read where 60 hospitals and trauma centers have closed in CA.

I was interested in finding out just how many hospital there are in the state of CA when I came across an analysis of SB 894, from June of this year , at info.sen.ca.gov. Maybe I'm mistaken, but it looks like the purpose of this bill is to prevent hospitals in financial trouble from selling, leasing, etc. to for-profit enterprises without express permission from the AG to do so. In other words, it appears that CA would prefer to see hospitals go bankrupt and close than to have anything happen which might force the precious illegals to pay a cent for medical services.

This states that there are a total of 355 hospitals in CA, only 206 being not for profit / non profit entities.Those 206 represent 58% of all hospitals in the state, 67% of all hospital beds available and are a "significant source of public benefit" through participation in government programs, including Medi-Cal.

206 hospitals is not a whole lot to serve a population of 30+ million people with thousands of more illegals pouring into the state all the time and breeding like out of control animals. It's only a matter of time before all manner of diseases become epidemic, and God help them in the event of natural disaster like another devastating earthquake. These scenarios are not a case of "if" but rather "when".

With hospitals being forced to shut down left and right, what then? CA is headed straight for a disaster of unimagineable magnitude but, of course, that makes no difference to the LaRacist politicians who think they're "somebody" now that they're ruling over their own Mini-Mexico complete with hoards of peasants kissing their rings and drooling all over their designer shoes.