U.S has to pay hospitals for illegals.

[StrikeFire83]

People complain about the cost of health care. It is President Bush's fault, or it is the mean Replublican's fault, or it is the drug companies, or it is the health care industry................................
Ever stop to think about how many OTHER people you are paying for whe you get that bill ? Maybe the answer isn't the conspiracy you think it is. Maybe. Just maybe, it isn't the evil right wingers or the evil American business that try to make an evil profit: maybe it is laws by lefties that make those of us that work and make money, pay for everybody else that doesn't.
This stuff isn't free. Medical equipment, drugs, and staff have to be payed for by somebody.

You are living in fantasy land if you think that large multi-national health corporations such as Humana and PacifiCare aren't at least partially responsible for rising American health care costs. When you have complete VERTICAL INTEGRATION, with the same company owning the insurance concern, the brick and mortar hospital, and having stakes in the sale of pharmaceuticals there is going to be collusion and price hikes, which will inevitably hit consumers in the pocket book.

Not to mention stand alone drug companies like Pfizer, which are routinely given billion dollar bail-outs by the federal government yet continue to create drugs which TREAT conditions yet fail to CURE them.

I’m not saying that illegal immigration isn’t putting a huge burden on American taxpayers due to aliens’ use of social services, but to give government and corporate America a blank check is simply naïve and ridiculous.

 

[444]

That horse has been beaten many times before, but is off topic.

But, just for the heck of it, what do you think the ratio is for people seen in an emergency room that have insurance or pay their bill vs. those that don't have insurance and don't pay their bill ?


P.S. I have worked as a professional paramedic for over 20 years. I don't have a real answer to that question but I have a guess that I bet isn't far off. Better yet, what percentage of people with no means to pay call an ambulance to get to the ER ?

 

[2nd Amendment]

The mega-corps certainly account for some portion of the high cost of healthcare but the bulk remains on the back of malpractice insurers and the need to charge to cover the fees, court costs and related skuldugery. Another sizeable chunk is created by the cost of funding those who will not(I didn't say cannot) pay AND those who stick it to the insurance companies as well.

And that leads to a curious recent experience: Wife wanted a small mostly cosmetic procedure done. Fee: Around $1100 plus a couple hundred in other various fees. IF we did not have insurance to cover it, which we thought was the case. However we found out it in fact WOULD cover it. After insurance coverage guess what we paid...?

About $1300 total. Everything billed to the insurer went to about $4700... See a problem there? Now I expect this with cars, it's how the collision game works. If you're paying from your own pocket the cost will usually be around a third what the cost is if insurance is eating it, but the same routine in the healthcare industry?!?!?! There's only one word for it and that is corruption. And in asking several family members about procedure costs they have had over the past few years those who knew in advance what it was going to cost them out of pocket consistently paid about the same amount as the original estimate AFTER insurance paid two or three times that amount...

This puts the bulk of corruption right at the ground floor. Another box lot chunk lands on attorneys and malpractice insurers. I'm sure that leaves a nice ugly piece of the pie for the corporations but if we wade through all the other money-suckers to get to them will we even be that worried about them any more? Well, ok, I like fights so let's get 'em, but financially we can solve the worst of the problems in other ways.

That is, of course, if anyone would actually ever address the real problems, but that wouldn't contribute to the desired goal of socialized medicine, now would it? You think that paying for Illegal's bills isn't another small brick in that wall, too? Got a bridge to sell ya...

 

[444]

That of course is the point.
Obviously illegal aliens arn't entirely responsible for the cost of health care in the US, but they are a part of it.
The other things involved are for another thread.

 

[sumpnz]

I have no problem with the FedGov paying hospitals for the care of illegals. I just wish they'd have also made it part of the law that however much was spent was deducted from the foreign aid given to the country of origin of the illegals. In a sense that would mean the country of origin was paying for the care of their own citizens. Not ideal, but it's better than nothing.

 

[wingman]

Ever stop to think about how many OTHER people you are paying for whe you get that bill

Yes, my medical insurance has double in past 5 year yet it pays 20% less
and I go to the doctor very little. As more enter my state(texas)premiums
and cost go up. My question still stands how many can America and its
taxpayer take in, we police the world send money to third world countries
so much so it gets lost, yet we feel we cannot provide social security and
health care to our "legal Citizens" then in the end how much population
increase of the slave labor force can we tolerate.

Well I guess one way out is provide very little services to anyone and
that would solve the problem but wait then we would be called Mexico.

 

[Art Eatman]

For all you young folks: I've been in-and-out as a patient (albeit not that often) for decades. Much of the time I paid my own bills; stuff not covered by insurance.

So: Prior to roughly 1985 or so, I didn't particularly worry about an office visit. The cost ran from maybe $15 to maybe $25, depending on what I needed.

Then, guess what? Our Government decided to be helpful. All this help, plus the laws about Medicare and Medicaid and the paperwork pertinent thereto, added administrative costs to all doctors. Then factor in lawsuits and the rise in malpractice premiums. In Florida, $5,000/WEEK for an Ob-Gyn. In Thomasville, GA, $1,000/WEEK for an osteo-surgeon I knew.

Costs started spiralling ever higher, so somebody dreamed up the idea of HMOs to hold down costs. Wonderful. HMOs, being in the business of turning a profit, imposed terms and conditions that controlled procedures--and thus their own internal costs. Would anybody expect otherwise?

Once again, "TANSTAAFL" raises its ugly head. That sucker just won't go away, will it?

But at least Our Government is helping us.

Hokay: Illegals are contributory to the problem. Never forget, however, that the basic problem existed long before all these numbers of illegals became impressive. We elected the folks who've promised all those Free Lunches.

Art

 

[StrikeFire83]

^ EXACTLY.

We're on the same page here.

 

[Cool Hand Luke 22:36]

And if we don't like it, I guess that makes us "Vigilantes" in the eyes of the current administration.

You can only push people so far before they push back. I am not advocating for this, just making an observation: I give it 24 months before packs of good ol'boys decide to try out those deer rifles on the border and stop the problem there.

Were you trying to taint just Southerners or all hunters with that stereotype?