Little-Acorn
Gold Member
The Federal govt mandates that hospitals provide care to everyone who comes in, regardless fo ability to pay, or of citizenship status. But in California, the Fed only pays for less than 2% of that free care hospitals hand out.
And now the Fed is going to stop paying for free care given to children of illegal aliens in California.
Calif hospitals give out $4 BILLION in uncompensated care every year.
More than 60 hospitals have already closed their doors, bankrupt. Looks like more will be following suit soon.
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http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_4654692
Hospitals assail denying health insurance to kids
by Nikki Cobb, Staff Writer
11/ 14/2006 12:00:00 AM PST
Babies born to illegal-immigrant parents will no longer automatically be enrolled in MediCal under a new federal policy, alarming local hospitals and public-health advocates.
Hospital officials are decrying the new policy, announced late last week. They say it places even more of a burden on hospitals already struggling to care for the uninsured. They're waiting to see what the state policy says when Sacramento officials finish it.
"All it means for hospitals is that we will have more uncompensated care," said Jaynie Boren, spokeswoman for San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland. "We don't turn anybody away, so this overall affects the system while adding more uncompensated care."
Hospitals by law must treat anyone who walks through their doors - regardless of insurance or ability to pay. Officials say youngsters without insurance will receive fewer vaccines and preventive care, and so will end up in the emergency room, where care is more costly.
Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Hospital Association of Southern California, said California hospitals already provide $4 billion in uncompensated care each year. The federal government, which mandates the provision of care to all, has not been much help, he said, having given California's hospitals $71 million in 2005.
Tobey Robertson, spokeswoman for Community Hospital of San Bernardino, called the current situation "a crisis" and said she fears the new policy will make things even worse.
"This just adds to the ranks of the uninsured," Robertson said. "It's certain that the more people who are uninsured, the more the hospital is hurt."
Lott said the federal government is imposing onerous requirements on hospitals without helping to pay for them.
"This is the same government that also requires hospitals to provide emergency care to anyone regardless of immigration or legal status," Lott said. "They're dealing with one problem while creating another."
He said emergency-room care for an acute or chronic problem costs four to five times as much as if the patient had been treated sooner in a doctor's office.
Sherreta Lane, vice president of reimbursement and economic analysis for the California Hospital Association, said parents can still apply for MediCal, after proving the child's citizenship.
But parents in the country illegally may be reluctant to deal with the government, Lane said. And when they do, the paperwork is an extra administrative hurdle, she said. It carries costs every step of the way.
(Full text of the article can be read at the above URL)
And now the Fed is going to stop paying for free care given to children of illegal aliens in California.
Calif hospitals give out $4 BILLION in uncompensated care every year.
More than 60 hospitals have already closed their doors, bankrupt. Looks like more will be following suit soon.
------------------------------------
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_4654692
Hospitals assail denying health insurance to kids
by Nikki Cobb, Staff Writer
11/ 14/2006 12:00:00 AM PST
Babies born to illegal-immigrant parents will no longer automatically be enrolled in MediCal under a new federal policy, alarming local hospitals and public-health advocates.
Hospital officials are decrying the new policy, announced late last week. They say it places even more of a burden on hospitals already struggling to care for the uninsured. They're waiting to see what the state policy says when Sacramento officials finish it.
"All it means for hospitals is that we will have more uncompensated care," said Jaynie Boren, spokeswoman for San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland. "We don't turn anybody away, so this overall affects the system while adding more uncompensated care."
Hospitals by law must treat anyone who walks through their doors - regardless of insurance or ability to pay. Officials say youngsters without insurance will receive fewer vaccines and preventive care, and so will end up in the emergency room, where care is more costly.
Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Hospital Association of Southern California, said California hospitals already provide $4 billion in uncompensated care each year. The federal government, which mandates the provision of care to all, has not been much help, he said, having given California's hospitals $71 million in 2005.
Tobey Robertson, spokeswoman for Community Hospital of San Bernardino, called the current situation "a crisis" and said she fears the new policy will make things even worse.
"This just adds to the ranks of the uninsured," Robertson said. "It's certain that the more people who are uninsured, the more the hospital is hurt."
Lott said the federal government is imposing onerous requirements on hospitals without helping to pay for them.
"This is the same government that also requires hospitals to provide emergency care to anyone regardless of immigration or legal status," Lott said. "They're dealing with one problem while creating another."
He said emergency-room care for an acute or chronic problem costs four to five times as much as if the patient had been treated sooner in a doctor's office.
Sherreta Lane, vice president of reimbursement and economic analysis for the California Hospital Association, said parents can still apply for MediCal, after proving the child's citizenship.
But parents in the country illegally may be reluctant to deal with the government, Lane said. And when they do, the paperwork is an extra administrative hurdle, she said. It carries costs every step of the way.
(Full text of the article can be read at the above URL)
