"They've had a gang problem in Salinas for decades, according to the news here. That 50% is a bit eye-popping, you sure about that?"
Nope. I am not sure. The number came from the Justice Department. It might be too low. "ok and how does this correlate with illegal immigration please?" Anyone who is dropped off within 200 yards of an emergency room is guaranteed treatment, regardless of whether they can pay or not. It is a common for illegal immigrants to go to the emergency room for treatment, including treatments that do not need emergency room attention (and to be fair, legal citizens do this too). There are cases were Mexican citizens from Tijuana will come into San Diego for treatment since they cannot be turned away. That is why there is a list of ER closings as well. The burden has become such a financial strain that many institutions are just shutting the doors. The majority of the hospitals are in large urban areas and the southern most part of CA. Go figure. At this point, can you blame the closings wholly on illegal immigrants? Probably not. Have they contributed mightily. You betcha. "You sure this has nothing to do with health care costs?" Of course it does. For profit hospitals close when they cannot make money. Nonprofits close when they can no longer sustain themselves. " I am assuming you are against health care reform, right?" Depends on what you mean. If you mean the abomination just signed into law, then yes. If you mean real reform, such as tort reform, free market insurance practices, and so on, then I am for it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:316968 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
