[Capriole]

Preventing illegal aliens from receiving Medicaid only punishes the doctors and hospitals, not the illegals. The illegals continue to receive medical care at Virginia hospitals: it's federal law that the hospital can't turn them away if they show up in the ER complaining of a headache or a term pregnancy, an owie finger or a myocardial infarction. The hospitals provide them with state-of-the-art health care without discrimination, but then won't get paid by Medicaid. And then everybody's surprised when the hospitals go bankrupt and close their doors. Then nobody gets treatment.

[inquest]

Preventing illegal aliens from receiving Medicaid only punishes the doctors and hospitals, not the illegals. The illegals continue to receive medical care at Virginia hospitals: it's federal law that the hospital can't turn them away if they show up in the ER complaining of a headache or a term pregnancy, an owie finger or a myocardial infarction.

That just means the next step would be for the states to encourage hospitals to disobey that federal "law", as it's blatantly unconstitutional.

[detsaoT]

Preventing illegal aliens from receiving Medicaid only punishes the doctors and hospitals, not the illegals. The illegals continue to receive medical care at Virginia hospitals: it's federal law that the hospital can't turn them away if they show up in the ER complaining of a headache or a term pregnancy, an owie finger or a myocardial infarction. The hospitals provide them with state-of-the-art health care without discrimination, but then won't get paid by Medicaid. And then everybody's surprised when the hospitals go bankrupt and close their doors. Then nobody gets treatment.

Yeah - The waiting rooms at every emergency center in Northern Virginia are always packed with Mexicans coughing, with very little evidence of an injury that would be considered an "emergency." When the hospitals determine that it's not a true emergency, I think they're allowed to bill the patient - but very few "patients" pay for the services rendered, thus passing the bill on to people who use the hospital's services lawfully. I do think the hospitals are allowed to pass this loss on to the Federal government, under recent legislation passed by Congress, but I may be wrong...