Illegal Immigrant Medical Bills Drive LA into Debt

"Los Angeles County is being besieged by medical bills from the
uninsured and the illegal immigrants who visit its emergency rooms,
reports Fox News.

Legal residents of California are "entitled" to basic hospital
services if they are poor, and many of the poor are uninsured. Last
year, Los Angeles County spent $340 million to treat uninsured
patients, about $1,000 for every taxpayer.

But legal and illegal aliens are responsible for the bulk of these
visits, putting increased demands on the public health care system.
Critics say that taxpayers cannot become the HMO of the world:

o Sixty percent of the county's uninsured patients are not U.S.
citizens, with more than half living in the country illegally.

o About 2 million undocumented aliens in Los Angeles County are
crowding emergency rooms because they can't afford to see a doctor.

o The added demand for services has led to rationing: Patients
can wait up to four days for a hospital bed and up to two years for a
gallbladder surgery.

To make matters worse, illegal immigrants can even get care ahead of
American citizens.

Los Angeles County supervisor Mike Antonovich says that caring for
illegals is diverting funds from other services and forcing clinics,
trauma centers and emergency rooms to close. He laments: "We cannot
afford to have an open-door policy to encourage illegals to continue
to come here and receive all the medical care because it's too
expensive".

Source: "L.A. Emergency Rooms Full of Illegal Immigrants," Fox News,
March 18, 2005.

For text:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,150750,00.html

For more on Health Issues: Those Who Lack Health Insurance:
http://www.ncpa.org/iss/hea/