Thread: Parkland Hospital , Dallas UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Parkland Hospital , Dallas

Virginia Rogers
Secretary, South Plains College Vocational
Nursing Department

UNBELIEVABLE!!!


Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas ,Texas is a fairly
famous institution and for a variety of reasons:

1. John F. Kennedy died there in 1963
2. Lee Harvey Oswald died there shortly after
3. Jack Ruby-who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, died
there a few years later..by coincidence

"On the flip side, Parkland is also home to the
second busiest maternity ward in the country with
almost 16,000 new babies arriving each year.
(That's almost 44 per day---every day)

A recent patient survey indicated that 70 percent
of the women who gave birth at Parkland in the first
three months of 2006 were illegal immigrants.
That's 11,200 anchor babies born every year
just in Dallas . According to the article, the
hospital spent $70.7 million delivering 15,938
babies in 2004 but managed to end up with almost $8
million dollars in surplus funding. Medicaid kicked
in $34.5 million, Dallas County taxpayers kicked in
$31.3 million and the feds tossed in another $9.5
million.

The average patient in Parkland 's maternity wards
is 25 years old, married and giving birth to her
second child. She is also an illegal immigrant. By
law, pregnant women cannot be denied medical care
based on their immigration status or ability to pay.


OK, fine. That doesn't mean they should receive
better care than everyday, middle-class American
citizens. But at Parkland Hospital, they do.

" Parkland Memorial Hospital has nine prenatal
clinics. NINE.

The Dallas Morning News article followed a Hispanic
woman who was a patient at one of the clinics and
pregnant with her third child---her previous two
were also born at Parkland. Her first two deliveries
were free and the Mexican native was grateful
because it would have cost $200 to have them in
Mexico. This time, the hospital wants her to pay $10
per visit and $100 for the delivery but she was
unsure if she could come up with the money. Not that
it matters, the hospital won't turn her away. (I
wonder why they even bother asking at this point.)

"How long has this been going on? What are the
long-term affects?

Well, another subject of the article was born at
Parkland in 1986 shortly after her mother entered
the U.S. illegally---now she is having her own child
there as well. (That's right, she's technically a
U.S. citizen.) These women receive free prenatal
care including medication, nutrition, birthing
classes and child care classes. They also get
freebies such as car seats, bottles, diapers and
formula.

Most of these things are available to American
citizens as well but only for low-income applicants
and even then, the red tape involved is almost
insurmountable.

Because these women are illegal immigrants, they do
not have to provide any sort of legitimate
identification---no proof of income. An American
citizen would have to provide a social security
number which would reveal their annual income---an
illegal immigrant need only claim to be poor and the
hospital must take them at their word.

"My husband is a pilot for the United States Navy
(yes, he fought in Iraq ) and while the health care
is good, we Navy wives don't get any of these perks!
Car seats? Diapers? Not so much. So my question is
this: Does our public medical care system treat
illegal immigrants better than American citizens?
Yes it does!

As I mentioned, the care I have received is
perfectly adequate but it's bare bones, meat and
potato medical care---not top of line.

Their (the illegals) medical care is free---simply
because they are illegal immigrants? Once again,
there is no way to verify their income.

Parkland Hospital offers indigent care to Dallas
County residents who earn less than $40,000 per
year. (They also have to prove that they did not
refuse health coverage at their current job. Yeah,
the 'free' care is not so easy for Americans.)

There are about 140 patients who received roughly
$4 million dollars for un-reimbursed medical care.
As it turns out, they did not qualify for free
treatment because they resided outside of Dallas
County. So the hospital is going to sue them!
Illegals get it all free! But U.S. citizens who live
outside of Dallas County get sued! How stupid is
this?

As if that isn't annoying enough, the illegal
immigrant patients are actually complaining about
hospital staff not speaking Spanish. In this AP
story, the author speaks with a woman who is upset
that she had to translate comments from the hospital
staff into Spanish for her husband. The doctor was
trying to explain the situation to the family and
the mother was forced to translate for her husband
who only spoke Spanish. This was apparently a great
injustice to her.

In an attempt to create a Spanish-speaking staff,
Parkland Hospital is now providing incentives in the
form of extra pay for applicants who speak Spanish.
Additionally, medical students at the University of
Texas Southwestern for which Parkland Hospital is
the training facility will now have a Spanish
language requirement added to their already
jammed-packed curriculum. No other school in the
country boasts such a ridiculous multi-semester
(multicultural) requirement.

In the meantime, I have to end my column here. I
have to go buy a car seat."

This article makes me want to SCREAM!!!!

Well, another subject of the article was born at
Parkland in 1986 shortly after her mother entered
the U.S. illegally---now she is having her own child
there as well. (That's right, she's technically a
U.S. citizen.) These women receive free prenatal
care including medication, nutrition, birthing
classes and child care classes. They also get
freebies such as car seats, bottles, diapers and
formula.

Most of these things are available to American
citizens as well but only for low-income applicants
and even then, the red tape involved is almost
insurmountable.

Because these women are illegal immigrants, they do
not have to provide any sort of legitimate
identification---no proof of income. An American
citizen would have to provide a social security
number which would reveal their annual income---an
illegal immigrant need only claim to be poor and the
hospital must take them at their word.

But note that woman above, who is "technically" an American citizen, is also partaking of the free birthing (and presumably the other freebies)! So how many of these 2nd generation leaches are falsely claiming to be illegal to snag taxpayers funded "free birthing"?

I will laugh the day they go belly up!

Unbelievable.

AAAARGH!!

Americans are so stupid for allowing this. What jerks and roll overs the world must see us as.

It's embarassing and maddening to see our nation so abused and our citizens so slighted in favor of foreign nationals.

But wait ... isn't that Treason?

Favoring foreign nationals to invade our nation at the expense of American Citizens?

Sure sounds like it to me.

Is there a link to this article? Wanna share it with a few symps but want to be able to show the source

If they haven't learned to work the system, there are hispanic, alien friendly, organizations that teach them.

And consider this....husband works but get's paid 'under the table', thus paying NO taxes, while wife with 'new' anchor baby, does not disclose her marital status or hubby's income, so that they can apply for and receive 'family' welfare benefits, including, food vouchers, medicaid and prescription coverage, housing vouchers, cash assistance for utilities, not to mention all of the other 'aid' those organizations direct her to and education for her children. They become two-income families, live much better than they did back home, all off the government and then send most of his wages back to Mexico, some of which goes to pay off the smugglers to bring more family in! Their only advantage to 'legalization' is that hubby will make bigger bucks as a union worker, while (unmarried) wife continues to collect all those benefits from the government! Oh, and lets not forget, that Bush and S2611 will give them SS for all the years he's worked here illegally without paying a dime in taxes AND if I recall correctly, Bush wanted them to also get SS for the years they worked prior to coming here, illegally, in Mexico.

In the meantime, SS and our welfare system will go bankrupt and more and more hospitals will either close or require additional federal funding. American citizens, like me, who are disabled and truly in need of those services are screwed.

Let me tell you how.....When anyone applies for Medicaid, it is federal law that they must also apply for SSI benefits, whether you are entitled or not. That application is processed the same way claims for Social Security Disability are, through the SSA. I live in Ohio. After working more than 25 years, at a decent pay, on which I raised three children. I got sick three years ago and became permanently disabled. I was told at that time, there were more than 10,000 applications ahead of mine, all backlog due to a boom in the number of people 'in need'.

In the meantime, I lived of my savings. Only then, as a single, disabled adult who's children are grown, in addition to medicaid, I receive a very nominal amount in food vouchers a week and $115 in cash a month to cover ALL expenses. I must live with my oldest son or sister (thank god for good family) because the housing voucher program, that would at least offer Section 8 housing, is drained and has been empty for the past three years. However, doing so is what reduces the assistance I'm getting in cash and food because THEIR incomes are considered in MY application. But this is the clencher.....I just had to re-apply for medicaid and on the application form it reads:

"There has been a change in verification requirement for MEDICAID. U.S. Citizens must provide one time proof of citizenship. See page three (3) of this notice for examples of verifications required. If you have already provided this proof, you do not need to provide it again. You do NOT have to provide this proof if you get disability medical assistance, SSI or Medicare, OR IF YOU ARE NOT (LET ME REPEAT) IF YOU ARE NOT A U.S. CITIZEN."

The illegal alien invasion is VERY personal to me.

Dallas hospital plans to bill Mexico

By Hugh Aynesworth
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published July 9, 2006

DALLAS -- Parkland Memorial Hospital plans to bill Mexico and other countries to help cover the costs of health care for indigents.

The plan, which also seeks payments from adjoining counties in Texas, has brought a negative response from the Mexican government, with a diplomat terming it "an act of discrimination."

Last year, hospital officials said, Dallas County spent $76.5 million to treat people from outside Dallas. Of that, almost $27 million was not reimbursed.

Much of the cost was for treating patients from adjoining counties in Texas, which Dallas County officials claim is unfair to local taxpayers.

Collin County, just north of here and one of the state's richest counties, owed the most of any single entity, Parkland officials said -- about $7.6 million.

County Judge Margaret Keliher said she was not hopeful that other counties -- or countries -- would pay up.

But, she said, the county commission thought the matter should be made public and bills sent.

"If you're not Dallas County residents, we think where you are from should pay for your indigent health care," Judge Keliher said.

Hugo Juarez, a consul official at the Mexican Consulate in Dallas, was visibly perturbed.

He called the statements made by the judge "a strange posture, a strange reasoning." He said there had been no agreement or contract between his nation and Dallas County that would make such action legal.

Lobbyists and county officials last year tried unsuccessfully to get the Texas Legislature to come up with a law that forced counties to reimburse those hospitals that took in large numbers of indigents.

"What's wrong with sending them a bill?" commission member Maurine Dickey said. She said officials "hoped" the counties that sent their citizens to Parkland would pay something. "We owe it to taxpayers to at least try."

Mr. Juarez also was curious about how hospital officials would know where to send the bill.

"How do they know who is Mexican?" he said. "Nobody asks for your nationality nor immigration status when you go to the hospital."

Currently, Parkland is reimbursed by the federal government for treatment of illegal aliens, but Parkland officials said that agreement covers only 48 hours of emergency care and falls far short of what expenses the hospital often incurs.

The hospital has spent more than a week figuring out how many foreign nationals have been treated and how much to bill each of the nations.

An estimated 90 percent of those affected are Mexican nationals, one source told The Washington Times.

John Gates, Parkland's chief financial officer, said he was in favor of sending the bills, though he doubted anybody would pay.

They should have been told...if it is an inconvience to translate

LEARN ENGLISH...OR SHUT UP!

Originally Posted by Judy

Unbelievable.

AAAARGH!!

Americans are so stupid for allowing this. What jerks and roll overs the world must see us as.

It's embarassing and maddening to see our nation so abused and our citizens so slighted in favor of foreign nationals.

But wait ... isn't that Treason?

Favoring foreign nationals to invade our nation at the expense of American Citizens?

Sure sounds like it to me.

Judy, I have come to the sad conclusion the word Treason is not in our governments dictionary anymore seems anything goes anymore,treason went out in the 50s!

Uninsured Hispanic immigrants with uncertain immigration status have flocked in recent years to public hospital emergency rooms and maternity wards in Texas, California and other border states. Their care has swelled costs for struggling hospitals and increased the health care bills that fall to states and counties, giving ammunition to opponents of illegal immigration who complain of undue burdens on local taxpayers.

As a result, health care has become one of the sorest issues in the border states' debate over illegal immigration. Facing harsh criticism from residents, public hospitals are confronted with an uneasy decision: demand immigration documents from patients and deny subsidized care to those who lack them, or follow the public health principle of providing basic care to anyone who needs it.

In Texas, two of the biggest public hospitals chose differently.

The Parkland Health and Hospital System, which serves Dallas County, offers low-cost care to low-income residents with no questions asked about immigration status.

"I don't want my doctors and nurses to be immigration agents," said Dr. Ron J. Anderson, the president of Parkland. "We decided that these are folks living in our community and we needed to render the care."

In Fort Worth, in neighboring Tarrant County, JPS Health Network requires foreign-born patients to show legal immigration documents to receive financial assistance in nonemergencies, like elective surgery and the treatment of routine or chronic illnesses. Executives said that their first responsibility was to legal residents, but that they were uncomfortable about having to make such distinctions.
Administrators from both hospital systems indicated that some of the common assumptions made about immigrants who seek medical care at those facilities (and at other Texas hospitals) are misconceptions:
While Texas border hospitals often get "anchor babies" — children of Mexican women who dart across the border to give birth to an American citizen — most illegal immigrants who go to major hospitals in Texas can show that they have been living here for years, said Ernie Schmid, policy director at the Texas Hospital Association. Many immigrant families have mixed status; often a patient with no documents has a spouse or children who are legal.

Most immigrant patients have jobs and pay taxes, through paycheck deductions or property taxes included in their rent, administrators at the Dallas and Fort Worth hospitals said. At both institutions, they have a better record of paying their bills than low-income Americans do, the administrators said.

The largest group of illegal immigrant patients is pregnant women, hospital figures show. Contrary to popular belief here, their care is not paid for through local taxes. Under a 2002 amendment to federal regulations, the births are covered by federal taxes through Medicaid because their children automatically become American citizens.

These cases are not affected by new regulations that went into effect on July 1 [2006] requiring Medicaid patients to provide proof of citizenship, Texas health officials said. They said they believed that only small numbers of illegal immigrants had received other Medicaid benefits.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/parkland.asp