Why U.S. Healthcare is So Expensive
Keep in mind that this article deals with Arizona, and also that I'm not a doctor—but last time I went through INOVA Fairfax (our largest local hospital here in Northern Virginia), over 2/3rds of the E.R. waiting room was filled with "foreign nationals" with various non-emergency-looking maladies.
This, of course, is only one reason of many—but it's a rather big one:
Seriously, we've got to start repealing some of our government's more misguided "humanitarian" programs, before they completely bankrupt us all. There is no logical reason in the world to provide subsidized "emergency" care to "undocumented" immigrants—heck, without documentation, how can we even tell if they are poor enough to need such "free" [Ed.:—I.e., paid for by you and me.] services?
(h/t BGHater)
As a side note, let me clarify my above remarks regarding "non-emergency care" as thus: There is no justifiable reason that someone should be provided free "emergency" care for a cough, sniffle, or slight fever—yet our hospitals are forbidden from turning people who show up to the emergency room with such ailments, or at the very least, are afraid to do so due to onerous regulation. We could cut at least $100 million in health costs annually if we were even allowed the basic ability to turn away such abusers of the "emergency" room system. But again, I'm not a doctor—if any of y'all are, I'd love to hear what your take on this issue is.
This, of course, is only one reason of many—but it's a rather big one:
PHOENIX (AP) — The federal government has reimbursed Arizona hospitals and doctors $92 million over the past two years to offset unpaid bills for emergency care provided to undocumented immigrants.
Arizona hospital executives say they are grateful for the financial help, but it’s still not enough to offset the bulk of costs associated with providing emergency health care to illegal immigrants.
To make up the shortfall, hospitals say they are forced to raise the costs of basic hospital services for everyone else. [Ed.:—This Means Us.]
...
Carondelet operates one hospital in Nogales at the U.S.-Mexican border and three in the Tucson area. The Carondelet hospitals provided about $15.5 million worth of care to immigrant patients over the past two years, and the hospital network collected $2.4 million under the program, the company said.
That means less than 16 percent of the hospital group’s undocumented-immigrant-related bills were paid.
Seriously, we've got to start repealing some of our government's more misguided "humanitarian" programs, before they completely bankrupt us all. There is no logical reason in the world to provide subsidized "emergency" care to "undocumented" immigrants—heck, without documentation, how can we even tell if they are poor enough to need such "free" [Ed.:—I.e., paid for by you and me.] services?
(h/t BGHater)
As a side note, let me clarify my above remarks regarding "non-emergency care" as thus: There is no justifiable reason that someone should be provided free "emergency" care for a cough, sniffle, or slight fever—yet our hospitals are forbidden from turning people who show up to the emergency room with such ailments, or at the very least, are afraid to do so due to onerous regulation. We could cut at least $100 million in health costs annually if we were even allowed the basic ability to turn away such abusers of the "emergency" room system. But again, I'm not a doctor—if any of y'all are, I'd love to hear what your take on this issue is.
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