Illegal Immigrants Leave US Hospitals With Billions In Unpaid Bills

Epoch Times ^ | 03/15/2024 | Autumn Spredemann

[SeekAndFind]

Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants are flooding into U.S. hospitals for treatment and leaving billions in uncompensated health care costs in their wake.

The House Committee on Homeland Security recently released a report illustrating that from the estimated $451 billion in annual costs stemming from the U.S. border crisis, a significant portion is going to health care for illegal immigrants.

With the majority of the illegal immigrant population lacking any kind of medical insurance, hospitals and government welfare programs such as Medicaid are feeling the weight of these unanticipated costs.

Apprehensions of illegal immigrants at the U.S. border have jumped 48 percent since the record in fiscal year 2021 and nearly tripled since fiscal year 2019, according to Customs and Border Protection data.

Last year broke a new record high for illegal border crossings, surpassing more than 3.2 million apprehensions.

And with that sea of humanity comes the need for health care and, in most cases, the inability to pay for it.

In January, CEO of Denver Health Donna Lynne told reporters that 8,000 illegal immigrants made roughly 20,000 visits to the city’s health system in 2023.

The total bill for uncompensated care costs last year to the system totaled $140 million, said Dane Roper, public information officer for Denver Health. More than $10 million of it was attributed to “care for new immigrants,” he told The Epoch Times.

Though the amount of debt assigned to illegal immigrants is a fraction of the total, uncompensated care costs in the Denver Health system have risen dramatically over the past few years.

The total uncompensated costs in 2020 came to $60 million, Mr. Roper said. In 2022, the number doubled, hitting $120 million.

He also said their city hospitals are treating issues such as “respiratory illnesses, GI [gastro-intenstinal] illnesses, dental disease, and some common chronic illnesses such as asthma and diabetes.”

“The perspective we’ve been trying to emphasize all along is that providing healthcare services for an influx of new immigrants who are unable to pay for their care is adding additional strain to an already significant uncompensated care burden,” Mr. Roper said.

He added this is why a local, state, and federal response to the needs of the new illegal immigrant population is “so important.”

Colorado is far from the only state struggling with a trail of unpaid hospital bills.

Dr. Robert Trenschel, CEO of the Yuma Regional Medical Center situated on the Arizona–Mexico border, said on average, illegal immigrants cost up to three times more in human resources to resolve their cases and provide a safe discharge.

“Some [illegal] migrants come with minor ailments, but many of them come in with significant disease,” Dr. Trenschel said during a congressional hearing last year.

“We’ve had migrant patients on dialysis, cardiac catheterization, and in need of heart surgery. Many are very sick.”

He said many illegal immigrants who enter the country and need medical assistance end up staying in the ICU ward for 60 days or more.

A large portion of the patients are pregnant women who’ve had little to no prenatal treatment. This has resulted in an increase in babies being born that require neonatal care for 30 days or longer.

Dr. Trenschel told The Epoch Times last year that illegal immigrants were overrunning healthcare services in his town, leaving the hospital with $26 million in unpaid medical bills in just 12 months.

ER Duty to Care

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986 requires that public hospitals participating in Medicare “must medically screen all persons seeking emergency care … regardless of payment method or insurance status.”

The numbers are difficult to gauge as the policy position of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is that it “will not require hospital staff to ask patients directly about their citizenship or immigration status.”

In southern California, again close to the border with Mexico, some hospitals are struggling with an influx of illegal immigrants.

American patients are enduring longer wait times for doctor appointments due to a nursing shortage in the state, two health care professionals told The Epoch Times in January.

A health care worker at a hospital in Southern California, who asked not to be named for fear of losing her job, told The Epoch Times that “the entire health care system is just being bombarded” by a steady stream of illegal immigrants.

“Our healthcare system is so overwhelmed, and then add on top of that tuberculosis, COVID-19, and other diseases from all over the world,” she said.

A newly-enacted law in California provides free healthcare for all illegal immigrants residing in the state. The law could cost taxpayers between $3 billion and $6 billion per year, according to recent estimates by state and federal lawmakers.

In New York, where the illegal immigration crisis has manifested most notably beyond the southern border, city and state officials have long been accommodating of illegal immigrants’ healthcare costs.

Since June 2014, when then-mayor Bill de Blasio set up The Task Force on Immigrant Health Care Access, New York City has worked to expand avenues for illegal immigrants to get free health care.

“New York City has a moral duty to ensure that all its residents have meaningful access to needed health care, regardless of their immigration status or ability to pay,” Mr. de Blasio stated in a 2015 report.

The report notes that in 2013, nearly 64 percent of illegal immigrants were uninsured. Since then, tens of thousands of illegal immigrants have settled in the city.

“The uninsured rate for undocumented immigrants is more than three times that of other noncitizens in New York City (20 percent) and more than six times greater than the uninsured rate for the rest of the city (10 percent),” the report states.

The report states that because healthcare providers don’t ask patients about documentation status, the task force lacks “data specific to undocumented patients.”

Some health care providers say a big part of the issue is that without a clear path to insurance or payment for non-emergency services, illegal immigrants are going to the hospital due to a lack of options.

“It’s insane, and it has been for years at this point,” Dana, a Texas emergency room nurse who asked to have her full name omitted, told The Epoch Times.

Working for a major hospital system in the greater Houston area, Dana has seen “a zillion” migrants pass through under her watch with “no end in sight.” She said many who are illegal immigrants arrive with treatable illnesses that require simple antibiotics. “Not a lot of GPs [general practitioners] will see you if you can’t pay and don’t have insurance.”

She said the “undocumented crowd” tends to arrive with a lot of the same conditions. Many find their way to Houston not long after crossing the southern border. Some of the common health issues Dana encounters include dehydration, unhealed fractures, respiratory illnesses, stomach ailments, and pregnancy-related concerns.

“This isn’t a new problem, it’s just worse now,” Dana said.

Medicaid Factor

One of the main government healthcare resources illegal immigrants use is Medicaid.

All those who don’t qualify for regular Medicaid are eligible for Emergency Medicaid, regardless of immigration status. By doing this, the program helps pay for the cost of uncompensated care bills at qualifying hospitals.

However, some loopholes allow access to the regular Medicaid benefits. “Qualified noncitizens” who haven’t been granted legal status within five years still qualify if they’re listed as a refugee, an asylum seeker, or a Cuban or Haitian national.

Yet the lion’s share of Medicaid usage by illegal immigrants still comes through state-level benefits and emergency medical treatment.

A Congressional report highlighted data from the CMS, which showed total Medicaid costs for “emergency services for undocumented aliens” in fiscal year 2021 surpassed $7 billion, and totaled more than $5 billion in fiscal 2022.

Both years represent a significant spike from the $3 billion in fiscal 2020.

An employee working with Medicaid who asked to be referred to only as Jennifer out of concern for her job, told The Epoch Times that at a state level, it’s easy for an illegal immigrant to access the program benefits.

Jennifer said that when exceptions are sent from states to CMS for approval, “denial is actually super rare. It’s usually always approved.”

She also said it comes as no surprise that many of the states with the highest amount of Medicaid spending are sanctuary states, which tend to have policies and laws that shield illegal immigrants from federal immigration authorities.

Moreover, Jennifer said there are ways for states to get around CMS guidelines. “It’s not easy, but it can and has been done.”

The first generation of illegal immigrants who arrive to the United States tend to be healthy enough to pass any pre-screenings, but Jennifer has observed that the subsequent generations tend to be sicker and require more access to care. If a family is illegally present, they tend to use Emergency Medicaid or nothing at all.

The Epoch Times asked Medicaid Services to provide the most recent data for the total uncompensated care that hospitals have reported. The agency didn’t respond.

Continue reading over at The Epoch Times

[rdcbn1]

Illegalmaliens are coming to the US with serious health problems to get free high quality health care from American hospitals paid for by taxpayer dollars

[KarlInOhio]

I think the number of people, both illegals and citizens, refusing to pay are one of the reasons why there are so many non-hospital surgical centers. I've known people how have had all types of surgeries like cataracts, LASIK, vasectomies, eyelid reductions, etc. that years ago would be in regular hospitals. Now they are in buildings with no emergency rooms and you can't get into without an appointment and you don't get treatment without insurance or prepayment. Thus there are no non-payers which drive up the costs for everyone else.

I expect more and more surgeries to be done in such non-hospital hospitals. I wouldn't even be surprised if they start doing some inpatient treatments where you can stay overnight afterwards to nab more of the paying business from hospitals.

[buckalfa]

https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/prospective-payment-systems/acute-inpatient-pps/disproportionate-share-hospital-dsh

Don’t shed too many tears for the hospitals as the care is not totally uncompensated. The tax payer footing the bill of course.

[Organic Panic]

They are sending their best and brightest. They all just want to make a better life here. AND get all the free stuff courtesy of the stupid gringo.

[Sir Bangaz Cracka]

Democrats will keep allowing illegals in until the push back gets so bad they have to stop. Not there yet.

[Elsie]

COWBIRDS!!

 

 

Brown-headed cowbirds are brood parasites;

 

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 Following the constantly roaming herds, cowbirds couldn’t expend the time for nesting, but rather laid their eggs in host nests as they moved along, leaving host parents to raise their eggs to adulthood. As people began to disperse across North America, clearing forests and expanding domesticated livestock herds and agricultural production, the cowbird range expanded also. Nest parasitism enabled brown-headed cowbirds to quickly establish new populations and expand their distribution across the country.

Impacts

Brown-headed cowbirds parasitize the nests of more than 220 bird species in their range. Each cowbird can lay up to 30 eggs per season and usually lay 1 or 2 (or occasionally more) eggs in each host nest. When parasitizing nests, they often remove the egg(s) of the host bird. Brown-headed cowbird chicks usually hatch sooner than the host chicks, are larger, and develop faster. Their larger size and persistent behavior gains them more care from the host parents. Nest parasitism lowers the reproductive success of host birds and has led to population declines in several bird species. In California, the riparian songbirds least Bell’s vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) and willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) are listed as endangered due to loss of riparian habitat and nest parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds.

Actions Taken if Found

If you observe this species in California, please report your sighting to the CDFW Invasive Species Program, by email to Invasives@wildlife.ca.gov, or by calling (866) 440-9530.

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https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Invasives/Species/Cowbird

[Organic Panic]

Gracias Jeffe Nixon. The republican gifts that keep on giving.

[Zathras]

I thought Obamacare was supposed to fix this.
We all knew it was a lie and that it was only going to get worse.

[RideForever]

They can sue the states they live in for allowing Biden’s illegal alien parolees to stay in their state. They should all be sent to a Fed facility, like District of Columbia, to await their trial as Fed charges to deal with.

[curious7]

Plus they have to be given a monthly booster from Pfizer, randomly selected from all lots.

[caww]

Yes.

[COBOL2Java]

Sleepy Joe leads the Cloward-Piven cheer...

"Gimme a 'C'! Gimme an 'L'! Gimme a... y'know, the thing!"

[SgtHooper]

Yeh, well, make THEM “foot” the bill!

[coalminersson]

NO MEDICAL CARE FOR ILLEGALS UNLESS IT JUST ENOUGH TO GET THEM BACK HOME ALLIVE.

I was in a scripps hospital few years ago waiting in the emergency room. I had a fever and an infection of unknown origin on my lower leg, I was amazed at the number of mexican families with kids who had a cough or a cold and they had no primary care doctor. They used the ER which costs more for routine check ups and medical care.

After triage they out you in a room till the nurse or doctor comes see you. If there are too many they start setting up beds in the hallway where it is loud, and you cannot sleep. Also it slows down your diagnosis and treatment when they have the regular number of staff and 2-3 times as many patients.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Deuteronomy 28:43-45 NASB1995‬‬

[43] The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower.

[44] He shall lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you will be the tail.

[45] “So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.

Click here.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

When you revolt, the foreigners whom GOD has appointed over you will KILL you.

[LouAvul]

Also,

Josh 23:16 When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.

Western Europe ostensibly began as Christian. But they abandoned God long ago. Ironically, It's the same ethnicity of mongrels that God used to sack first, Israel, then Judah, that He's using to sack Western Europe.

A similar fate awaits the USA, unless .. (cf. my tagline).

[Bernard]

Don’t these illegals get a debit card filled with Bidenbucks when they walk across the border? Get their card number!

[Max in Utah]

One more facet of Cloward-Piven— overload the system in order to break it down.

[Svartalfiar]

We’ve had migrant patients on dialysis, cardiac catheterization, and in need of heart surgery. Many are very sick.”

He said many illegal immigrants who enter the country and need medical assistance end up staying in the ICU ward for 60 days or more.

A large portion of the patients are pregnant women who’ve had little to no prenatal treatment. This has resulted in an increase in babies being born that require neonatal care for 30 days or longer.

In January, CEO of Denver Health Donna Lynne told reporters that 8,000 illegal immigrants made roughly 20,000 visits to the city’s health system in 2023.
...
The total bill for uncompensated care costs last year to the system totaled $140 million, said Dane Roper, public information officer for Denver Health. More than $10 million of it was attributed to “care for new immigrants,” he told The Epoch Times.

All those fancy treatment requirements, normally costing tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars, and yet somehow illegals only account for an average $500 visit? How is that possible? Hospitals practically charge that much just to walk in the door!


“The uninsured rate for undocumented immigrants is more than three times that of other noncitizens in New York City (20 percent) and more than six times greater than the uninsured rate for the rest of the city (10 percent),” the report states.

Or about 60%. And so 40% of illegal aliens have health insurance? What? That's crazy high - I would bet the real number is close to 1-2%!