Thread: TX: Wise County Says "NO" to Illegal's Health Cov

Wise County ends coverage for illegal immigrants
By CHRIS VAUGHN
Star-Telegram staff writer

The Wise County Commissioners Court voted this week to deny indigent healthcare coverage to illegal immigrants, nearly three years after Tarrant County made the same move.

The decision was made, officials said, because the county cannot be reimbursed by the state for expenses related to illegal immigrants. The Wise County program had only one illegal immigrant enrolled.

Anyone with an emergency will still be treated as required by federal law.

"You have to be here legally to get it," Wise County Attorney Greg Lowery said. "If you're not legal, we're not going to provide nonemergency healthcare."

The indigent healthcare program is funded entirely by county taxpayers and assists low-income families that, for whatever reason, do not qualify for Medicaid or Medicare.

The program reimburses local physicians and clinics up to $30,000 per person per year. Between 50 and 100 people are enrolled in the program at any given time.

"It's a last-ditch effort for them," said Charles Dillard, the county's emergency medical services administrator, who also supervises the program. "If they don't qualify for any other program, then they can come to us."

After a county reaches a certain spending threshold, it can seek state reimbursement. But the state will not reimburse for the care of illegal immigrants.

That is why officials wanted to stop offering coverage now.

"We were getting more phone calls about illegal aliens to be put on the program," Dillard said.

Columnist Bud Kennedy contributed to this report.

cvaughn@star-telegram.com
Chris Vaughn, 817-390-7547

Illegals should go to their consulate and obtain medical care or payment for care. Employers should have to pay the bills of illegals and if the illegal is not employed then send them to their consulate and tell them to provide medical care.

Wise advice: Don't live in this county if you're sick, needy
By BUD KENNEDY
Star-Telegram staff writer

Say you're sick with a chronic illness.

You need to see a doctor regularly.

But you're flat broke.

All I can say is, I hope you don't live in Wise County.

Wise County doesn't offer low-cost clinical care -- anywhere outside the emergency room -- unless you earn less than about $41 a week.

If you earn $42, tough luck. Pay the bill.

Sadly, that's not unusual. Wise and many other counties offer only the minimum charity required under law and the Texas Constitution.

By law, counties must reserve up to 8 cents of each tax dollar -- in Wise County, $1.4 million -- to cover limited medical care for "needy inhabitants."

County commissioners everywhere, including Tarrant County, dump some patients and their costs onto Dallas taxpayers and Parkland Memorial Hospital.

But Wise County added its own spiteful twist last week.

If you're sick and need ongoing low-cost care -- say, asthma or diabetes treatment -- bring your passport.

What? No passport?

Bring your birth certificate.

No birth certificate?

Then bring your voter card.

What's that? All you've got is a local driver's license?

I'm sorry.

In Decatur, a driver's license no longer proves that you're a Texan. Wise County commissioners voted last week to limit charity clinical care to legal U.S. residents. Like Tarrant County hospital trustees, they cut off care to illegal immigrants.

Make that illegal immigrant. There was only one in the entire Wise County indigent clinical-care system.

Just to make doubly sure, county health officials also imposed tougher identification rules for everybody.

Now, applicants for low-cost care must bring extra ID.

Even if you've paid taxes in Wise County for 10 years, your driver's license alone is no longer proof that you live there.

County officials cut back because "we were concerned that the budget was running low, and we had several illegal aliens coming in requesting services," said Charles Dillard, the county ambulance service administrator and also the boss over indigent care.

In other words, county officials feared a coming onslaught of illegal immigrants.

Sure. I bet the entire state of Aguascalientes is sitting around saying, "Hey! Let's all move up to Boyd or Cottondale and get some of that great Wise County healthcare!"

Dillard met with the county judge, a commissioner and the county attorney two weeks ago to ask about tighter rules.

Money really isn't a problem. State dollars cover 90 percent of any extra costs.

Wise County would automatically be reimbursed regardless of any patient's immigration status, said Jan Mayberry of the Texas Department of State Health Services.

"Counties aren't required by law to ask for proof of citizenship," she said. "That's not what we look at here at the state level."

By federal law, illegal immigrants automatically qualify only for emergency room care. Each county can choose to extend clinical care and set its own rules for identification.

"Those are completely local decisions," Mayberry said.

Until Friday, Wise County's local decision looked more like local delirium.

Commissioner Kevin Burns of Decatur led the vote Tuesday to cut off care for illegal immigrants. But then he told indigent care workers to turn away anyone who isn't an American citizen.

For four days, Wise County was maybe the only county in America refusing charity care even to legal immigrants.

County Judge Bill McElhaney of Bridgeport and County Attorney Greg Lowery met with Dillard Friday to straighten out the rules. Five legal immigrants had lost coverage, Dillard said.

McElhaney said commissioners should go back and set better rules for identifying county residents.

"The intent was that if they're not here legally, they shouldn't be in the program," he said. "But we need to have written instructions."

How -- Wise.

bud@star-telegram.com
Bud Kennedy's column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. 817-390-7538

great now we need the rest of the counties to follow suit.

The great thing is that they did it when it was truly not a problem. Too many of these counties and towns will wait until it IS a problem, and then you'll have LULAC and the ACLU filing lawsuits.