I caught
this story this morning on CNN:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Health care providers can charge the government for emergency care provided to illegal aliens beginning Tuesday.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued final guidance Monday that sets up a system for reimbursement. Lawmakers set aside $1 billion over four years for the program, created by Medicare legislation passed in 2003. [...]
One group that advocates stricter immigration policies said the government's reimbursement of hospitals was the right thing to do.
"It seems to me that if the federal government has abdicated its responsibility for immigration enforcement, then it's responsible for making those jurisdictions whole," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank based in Washington.
Okay. This is the first I've heard of this issue, and a dKos diary search for "illegal immigrants health care" pulled up nothing over the past few days. I've got a lot of mixed reactions that I need to sort out here. Time for the voices in my head to argue this one.
Reasonable tree-hugger voice: Illegal immigrants are human, too. Just because they are in our country does not mean that they do not deserve health care.
American citizen voice: I live here, too. In fact, I live here legally. And the government doesn't pay my hospital bills. I do. Quite frankly, I can't afford it.
Corporate business voice: But the hospitals are losing money on these illegal immigrants. They probably treat them, then can never track them down to try to recover their money.
Redneck minuteman voice: If our government can't keep these damn illegals out of the country in the first place, they'd better compensate the businesses that are suffering because of it.
What this seems to boil down to, as I start thinking about it, is that this is just additional evidence on how broken our system of private health care is.
This isn't a single, solitary issue. It's just a part of a bigger picture that further tells me that we need universal health care in this country. Here's a few points along those lines.
Yes, hospitals are losing money because families can't pay their bills. Responsible families are suffering because they try to pay their bills, but can't. Vicious circle begins - health care costs rise because providers need to make up for those who don't pay. Those who do pay, pay more. Those who could pay before may not be able to pay any longer as costs rise. Rinse and repeat.
If we had universal health care, we would all be paying taxes towards the system, just like we do with social security. In theory, however, we'd also be bringing home paychecks that are a tad larger, because our employers are no longer having to pay these expenses. (This is another can of worms - if universal health care were implemented, we'd need to address how to make sure employees, rather than stockholders or CEO's, see the benefits in their paychecks.)
I would get emergency room care. You would get emergency room care. Illegal immigrants would get emergency room care. Tourists who break their legs skiing would get emergency room care. And providers would get their money. Efficiency would improve. We're all happy.
Here's some facts to ponder from Connecticut Coalition for Universal Health Care:
Fact One: The United States spends at least 40% more per capita on health care than any other industrialized country with universal health care
Fact Two: Federal studies by the Congressional Budget Office and the General Accounting office show that single payer universal health care would save 100 to 200 Billion dollars per year despite covering all the uninsured and increasing health care benefits.
Fact Three: State studies by Massachusetts and Connecticut have shown that single payer universal health care would save 1 to 2 Billion dollars per year from the total medical expenses in those states despite covering all the uninsured and increasing health care benefits
Fact Four: The costs of health care in Canada as a % of GNP, which were identical to the United States when Canada changed to a single payer, universal health care system in 1971, have increased at a rate much lower than the United States, despite the US economy being much stronger than Canada's.
Conclusion: Single payer universal health care costs would be lower than the current US system due to lower administrative costs. The United States spends 50 to 100% more on administration than single payer systems. By lowering these administrative costs the United States would have the ability to provide universal health care, without managed care, increase benefits and still save money.
I realize this diary is a knee-jerk reaction to the story I read. I'd love to hash out the ideas behind the story. Perhaps allowing Medicare/Medicaid to cover the costs of illegal immigrants is a good thing... but it doesn't seem like it's getting to the root of the problem. That's why it seems wrong to me at the moment. We're trying to put a bandaid on a victim of multiple gunshot wounds. That won't solve anything.