Anchor babies denied Medical
tp://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_4653216
Illegal immigrants' babies denied MediCal
Illegal immigrants' babies denied MediCal
Nikki Cobb, Staff Writer
Article Launched:11/14/2006 12:00:00 AM PST
Babies born to illegal immigrant parents will no longer automatically be enrolled in MediCal under a new federal policy, alarming local hospitals and public health advocates.
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Hospital officials are decrying the new policy, announced late last week. They say it places even more of a burden on hospitals already struggling to care for the uninsured. They're waiting to see what the state policy says when Sacramento officials finish it.
"All it means for hospitals is that we will have more uncompensated care," said Jaynie Boren, spokeswoman for San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland. "We don't turn anybody away, so this overall affects the system while adding more uncompensated care."
Officials for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did not return calls seeking comment.
Hospitals by law must treat anyone who walks through their doors -- regardless of insurance or ability to pay. Officials say youngsters without insurance will receive fewer vaccines and preventive care and will eventually end up in the emergency room, where care is more
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costly.
Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Hospital Association of Southern California, said the state's hospitals already provide $4 billion in uncompensated care each year. The federal government, which mandates the provision of care to all, has not been much help, he said, having given California's hospitals $71 million in 2005.
Tobey Robertson, spokeswoman for Community Hospital of San Bernardino, called the current system a crisis and said she fears the new policy will make things even worse.
"This just adds to the ranks of the uninsured," Robertson said. "It's certain that the more people who are uninsured, the more the hospital is hurt."
Lott said the federal government is imposing onerous requirements on hospitals without helping to pay for them.
"This is the same government that also requires hospitals to provide emergency care to anyone regardless of immigration or legal status," Lott said. "They're dealing with one problem while creating another."
He said emergency room care for an acute or chronic problem costs four to five times as much as if the patient had been treated sooner in a doctor's office.
Sherreta Lane, vice president of reimbursement and economic analysis for the California Hospital Association, said parents can still apply for MediCal, after proving the child's citizenship.
But parents in the country illegally may be reluctant to deal with the government, Lane said. And when they do, the paperwork is an extra administrative hurdle, she said. And it carries costs every step of the way.
"It's ridiculous," Lane said. "It's really onerous -- it's tough on the state, tough on the counties, and especially tough on the beneficiaries."
Lott said that if the federal government wants to discourage illegal immigration, that's their decision. But he doesn't like having the hospitals shoulder the burden of caring for sick children without being compensated.
"The federal government wants to provide fewer incentives to illegal immigration, it would appear, by taking away this entitlement," Lott said.
That's Armando Navarro's take on the issue, too. The UC Riverside professor and coordinator for the National Alliance for Human Rights said the policy is one of hatred and bigotry.
"Here we're talking about children, poor families who need all the help they can get," Navarro said. "The dad makes $12 to $14 if he's lucky, the mom $8 or $9 -- they're barely able to pay the rent. And we're going to punish the children?"
Julie Carrington, shopping at Wal-Mart one recent day, said she opposes illegal immigration but thinks leaving children without health insurance is the wrong approach.
"They're citizens (when born in the U.S.). They should have health care," Smith said. "Why should the children suffer?"
