Hospital Falters as Refuge for Illegal Immigrants

I agree with one of the above comments...GET OUT. My mother and other family members came from a 3rd world country....the right way. Obtained a visa, worked and became citizens. If my family can do it, so can they! My mother became an RN at 19. It makes me very angry that these people get away with this when I have friends born and raised here that get turned down for health insurance because of ACNE!

OK then. But when you Americans travel to Europe, get sick or have an accident, pay your own bloody bills.

That is fine! Precisely why I have insurance that follows me when I travel...even when I did travel to Europe.

This is really tough. Yes, we should be compassionate, but we need to face the reality that the funds are not there to give free care to everyone, especially when they don't live legally in that country. If they want to come in the legal way and do things right, then more power to them. But looking for a free handout is not a way to run a business. It can only go on for so long. I feel bad for these folks, but how about people in this country who have lost insurance and cannot afford COBRA or private insurance, and maybe make just a little too much for Medicaid? Tough choices need to be made, no one said it would be easy or pretty.....

We cannot save the whole world. We can only do what we can do. Reality is reality...I totally agree with what you say.

When I did not have health insurance and became deathly ill, I went nowhere near medical care (for whatever reason, but I felt if I couldn't pay for it, I couldn't run up the bill). Did anyone show any compassion for me when I nearly died when my illness went just too far for me to be walking around? No. Not at all. I say, these people should receive medical care in their home country from their home government. They can get all the compassion there that they need and so rightly deserve. Why do I have to pay for them to receive what I can't get for myself or my family? No sense. And no pity from me.

Interesting thread. I'm usually the heartless republican in the discussion. his one made me think. Honestly, I'd be a lot more comfortable paying for their care then I would with many americans.

There are two groups of immigrants. Those that come here because they can make way more then they can at home, and send it all back out of the country to their families back home, until they have enough saved up that they can go back and live happily. You know, the ones that are milking the system. On the other hand, there are those that come here because it's the only chance they have. Often times they come from places riddled by extreme poverty, gang violence, corrupt governments. Illegals don't have it easy in the least, as they have to scrape out a living with the constant paranoia of being caught. But it just shows how bad it was back home.

I cannot, in any decent conscience, judge these people. The legal channels are often not an option, as the lists can take years, if you can even get on them. If I was in their position, I have to say....I'd be jumping the border too. If you have families depending on you, they come first. Even above the law.

Furthermore, they have the American dream firmly in their minds. Noone embodies the American spirit quite like immigrants do. To come from nothing, and to be so grateful for the simplest opportunities. As opposed to those who grew up here and never knew anything else, who feel entitled to everything and go on endlessly about how horrible this country is and how it doesn't give enough.

A lot of these people WANT to succeed, whatever it takes. Which is more then I can say about a lot of americans. They just never had the chance in any aspect of their lives. I'm so tired of inner city youths going on about being "disadvantaged" when they have so many options available to them if they'd only put in the effort. Immigrants on the other hand have nothing when they come here. They can't even get a job flipping burgers, and have to settle for under the table work. They have no prospects at education, or anything else. But they're damn sure going to try. And I don't care who you are, you have to respect that much. As I said, I would much sooner part with my tax dollars to give them a shot then I would to support lifetime welfare recipients pregnant with their third or fourth child.

But I'm also a realist. The financial strain of caring for these people is immense. I've heard of hospitals in the southwest that have had to close due to their emergency rooms being flooded by illegal uninsured. And programs like this offer only serve as to attract more of those that come seeking to abuse the system. There really needs to be a path towards citizenship for illegals. And no, I'm not talking about blanket amnesty. That's just stupid. But programs that involve a sweat equity, that force them to contribute to the betterment of our country while at the same time offering them the basic opportunities of providing for themselves, and obtaining an education.

The military already does this. You can work your way towards citizenship through active service, and I feel a lot of illegals would gladly choose this path if they weren't fearful of revealing themselves. But I'd love to see a civilian counterpart to this program, either via community service or some other public works. And set up milestones along the way that they have to meet, like learning english and advancing in a specified trade. I wouldn't have the slightest reservation about contributing to such programs. I also wouldn't feel the least bit guilty on cracking down on any illegals that chose not to participate.

You know, this post actually made me think. I'm surprised at myself. I thought I'd be a lot harsher on illegals.

Very often, I see patients in the hospital that can not afford to eat and pay for their medications. They have no clue how they are going to pay for their hospital bill, or the RX for the $100 antibiotics the MD just handed them...not that the MD cares. These patients are Americans, some of them elderly that helped shape our country, fought for our freedoms today. Raised our generation. As long as our healthcare system can not support our own citizens, then we are foolish to provide free care for people that illegally jumped the fence. I'm sorry if the American dream is not what they thought it would be.

Alot of these discussions turn into "Americans are getting screwed, so why shouldn't Illegals?"

I think the better question is: "Why are Americans getting screwed?" On one hand, that does open up a whole new can of worms. But we should refocus on priorities on the real problem: our broken HC system. But I guess there are 30 other threads for that.

So for the sake of discussion, lets say we live in a world where all the Americans arnt getting screwed in healthcare, would you still be comfortable paying a little more to provide EMERGENCY coverage for illegals, because it is the "humane" thing to do?

Does our artificial nationality really supersede our shared humanity, to the point where we would allow another to die because they "don't belong here"? Should we just accept that the world is a cruel and merciless place, and being able to take care of yourself and your loved ones is good enough, much less helping a random stranger. I guess I'm in the latter category, cause the plight in Africa sure isn't keeping me up at night.