Thread: Hospitals' funding for unpaid bills to end

Hospitals' funding for unpaid bills to end
by Ken Alltucker - Sept. 21, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
A federal government program that pays Arizona hospitals more than $30 million a year to offset unpaid bills for emergency care provided to undocumented immigrants will likely end next week.

Hospitals in Arizona and other border states have turned to the program to defray the costs of providing emergency care to illegal immigrants. But the program expires at the end of this month, and lawmakers say there is little chance that more funding will be added.

Arizona hospitals have lobbied Sen. Jon Kyl, who sponsored the original bill, to help extend the program. But Congress just doesn't have enough time to deal with the issue during this fall's limited session, which has been dominated by Wall Street's financial crisis in recent days.
"I don't think it is a very rosy prospect because we are just about out of the legislative session," said Kyl, who favors extending the program. "The only bit of good news is there is still a little bit of money left over."

The program was meant as a temporary fix for hospitals until Congress passed comprehensive immigration reform.

The program provided $250 million a year to states such as California, Texas, Arizona and others that have been hardest hit by immigrant care costs.

Even though the program expires at the end of the month, there will still be about $77 million available to Arizona hospitals and doctors, according to the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association.

Still, Arizona hospitals want a long-term fix.

"We are disappointed but not surprised or discouraged," said John Rivers, president and chief executive officer of the Arizona hospital association. "This touches the immigration issue and that is considered a hot potato both nationally and in Arizona. You need a broad coalition to get support for this and get it done."

Arizona hospitals say the program has been pivotal to help offset the costs of providing emergency care for undocumented immigrants. Hospitals are required to provide emergency care for anyone needing immediate care.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Tucson Democrat, has sponsored a bill, called the Border Health Care Relief Act, that would extend the funding to hospitals in border states. But the bill has little momentum.

Giffords said Southern Arizona hospitals are grappling with large numbers of undocumented immigrants seeking care.

"We are challenged in Arizona because we are in the front lines of a national immigration (debate)," Giffords said. 'These smaller hospitals are incredibly stressed."

St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix has received about $2.5 million to $2.9 million annually from the federal program. The hospital does not know how much it spends on immigrant care each year because it does not ask whether patients are U.S. citizens.

The hospital's overall "charity care" bill is about $17 million each year, which includes both citizens and undocumented immigrants.

Hospitals such as St. Joseph's determine whether a person may be eligible for the federal program by asking for such identification as Social Security cards, driver's licenses, border-crossing cards or temporary visas. Some patients volunteer to hospital staff members that they are not in the United States legally.

"We have been communicating with our congressional delegation about how important this funding is," said Suzanne Pfister, St. Joseph's vice president of external affairs. "It is the only public funding available."

Kyl said hospitals in Arizona and other states will need to demonstrate that they need the money. He said the American Hospital Association, in particular, needs to lobby on behalf of all border state hospitals.

"The problem is the American Hospital Association had its eye on some other issues this year," Kyl said. "Despite repeated pleas from me to get in the game on this issue, they did not do so."

Arizona hospital interests said they will continue to press their case. Pfister will travel to Washington, D.C., next week to explain to lawmakers how important the funding is for area hospitals.

Gov. Janet Napolitano's staff also sent a letter urging Congress to extend the program.

An analysis by the Washington D.C.-based group Center for Immigration Studies, which favors restricting immigration, found that Arizona hospitals are hard hit by the issue of uncompensated immigrant care.
"Arizona has the highest stakes in this debate of any state," said Steve Camarota, CIS' director of research.

The issue of immigrant care has been controversial. St. Joseph's and other Arizona hospitals have been criticized for discharging immigrant patients too quickly or arranging to have them transferred to medical facilities in their home country.

In some cases, such patient transfers were over the objections of family members.

St.Lawmakers such as Giffords said such patient transfers are an outgrowth of a broken immigration system.

"That is one reason we need comprehensive immigration reform," Giffords said.

"The bottom line is hospitals provide the best care they can to save peoples' lives. They are not there to provide ongoing care." Joseph's will continue to make such transfers because other Arizona health-care facilities are unwilling to continue caring for undocumented patients after initial treatment, Pfister said.



http://www.azcentral.com/business/artic ... 21-ON.html

I am against funding these hostpitals for illegal alien care. Unfortunately, some tough love is needed to make Americans wake the hell up and join our side against illegal immigration especially in enforcement and border security.

When hospitals start going broke, more Americans will screem to their congressmen and demand the deportation of every illegal. Sadly, some Americans are still asleep when it comes to the immigration issue.