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The Washington Times
www.washtimes.com
Hospitals feel pain of Mexico crossings
August Gribbin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 3/18/2002
Illegal aliens who fall ill or injure themselves sneaking across the Mexican
border
are forcing many U.S. hospitals to the brink of bankruptcy.
The hospitals, many of which are located in sparsely populated and poor
counties, are spending millions treating the broken bones, heat exhaustion and
wounds of aliens they cannot refuse to treat and who cannot pay. The result, says
James J. Dickson, head of the Copper Queen Community Hospital in Bisbee, Ariz.,
is "a tragic and contentious situation."
Sheri Jorden, senior policy director for the Arizona Hospital and Health Care
Association, calls it a "huge problem."
"Here you have a population that is not supposed to be here, that urgently needs
care � which must be given � and no one will pay for it. The situation may be worst
in Arizona, but it impacts New Mexico, California, Texas � even Illinois, New York,
Iowa and other states far from the border."
George Mead, spokesman for the Texas Hospital Association, says that doctors
and hospital administrators are not inclined to ignore those who are hurt. And even if
they wanted to, they couldn't.
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act requires hospitals and
ambulance services to provide care to anyone needing emergency treatment
regardless of citizenship, legal status or ability to pay. There are no reimbursement
provisions, though, and the poor, desperate job seekers infiltrating the United States
usually have no money.
It's difficult to determine how much the situation costs border hospitals in a
given
year. For one thing, doctors don't ask the nationality or legal status of patients.
Still,
administrators at 16 border hospitals recently tracked the expenses incurred from
treating indigent and uninsured foreign nationals over a three-month period. The
cost: $44 million.
In testimony last week before a subcommittee of the House Government Reform
Committee, Mr. Dickson reported that uncompensated costs attributed to "Border
Patrol apprehensions" and "compassionate entry trauma" have risen more than 400
percent over the last four years.
"Border Patrol apprehensions" refers to what critics say is a deliberate
Immigration and Naturalization Service policy of avoiding payment for the care of
injured or sick illegal aliens that Border Patrol officers track down. The officers
refuse
to officially apprehend such victims. They take them to area hospitals for treatment,
and since the victims are not officially in INS custody, the agency isn't legally
obligated to foot their bills.
Some months ago, for example, a van that the Border Patrol was chasing
overturned, and the nearest hospital went on disaster alert. Because the Border
Patrol refused to formally arrest the injured, the hospital had to absorb the costs.
Such costs can easily escalate, especially for surgery patients who need post-
operative care. Hospitals are constrained from discharging patients without a letter
from the patient's family in Mexico, stating a family member will cooperate and see
that the patient receives needed care when transferred back to Mexico.
Frequently, however, patients don't give their real names. Even when they do,
U.S. authorities find that the families can't or won't declare the patient will get the
needed medical attention back home. In such cases, the hospital must arrange and
pay for skilled nursing, physical rehabilitation or other post-hospital care.
Mr. Dickson told members of the subcommittee on criminal justice, drug policy
and human resources that two trauma centers near Tucson had announced they
were closing because they could no longer sustain the losses. The facilities were
given a brief reprieve when the state provided an infusion of funds.
But the University Medical Center in Tucson, Ariz., predicts it will have to
absorb
$8 million to $10 million this year "in uncompensated care to foreign nationals," Mr.
Dickson says. And Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center reported it lost $1
million treating 75 undocumented immigrants in the first quarter of fiscal 2002. It
anticipates greater losses in the months ahead.
Rep. Jim Kolbe, Arizona Republican, and Rep. Ed Pastor, Arizona Democrat, are
trying to win support among their colleagues for legislation to ease the situation.
Their bill calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to set up a five-
year pilot program for directly reimbursing hospitals and ambulance services for
emergency treatment given to foreigners who are in the country illegally or who are
"paroled" for humanitarian reasons.
"Parole" is the government's term for the practice of waving into the country
seriously ill or injured persons seeking help at U.S. hospitals. The practice is
humanitarian because there are few, if any, properly equipped Mexican health
facilities for Mexican border dwellers. Miss Jorden reports, for example, that the
nearest Mexico facility providing trauma care is about 150 miles from the Arizona-
Mexico line.
Consequently, when an exploding propane tank severely burned four Mexican
children in Naco last year, they were rushed across the border to the 49-bed Copper
Queen Community Hospital. All the physicians and the entire staff were called in.
When the children's conditions stabilized, they were whisked in four helicopters
to
a Phoenix burn center. Three died, and the fourth lived after an amputation and
lengthy recovery. The Copper Queen hospital had to cover $277,292 in treatment
costs.
Arizona's medical community is particularly affected by the influx of aliens, but
the
health care problem caused by uninsured illegals increasingly affects other areas to
which they flee. "The border is now north of Kansas," Mr. Mead says.
Copyright � 2002 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
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