Digger,

I just read part three regarding ER rooms and Illegals closing down trauma centers.

Dude, that editorial has more holes then swiss cheese. Even the headline conflicts with the story.

Here's my response to the editor -

Dear Editor,

First off, the ER's are NOT "Full" of illegal immigrants as you so sensationally put it. Your own article admits to that inaccuracy.

Question - The Department of Health has a $1.2 Billion deficit. How much of that can be directly attributed to Illegal Immigrants using ER facilities?

Secondly, as the parent of a disabled child in California, I find it extremely difficult to believe the Schencks son Bill can't get any care, even at little or no cost to them.

Have they not heard of SSI, California Children's Services, Medicare, Medicaid, In Home Supportive Services, or LA County health services? Or did you choose to exclude that information from your article so you could make your story more sensational?

I don't doubt Illegal Immigrants are having somewhat of an impact. But this editorial is so far out of reality, it's insulting to my intelligence.

Case in point. Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). As the parent of a disabled child, we have spent numerous days at this facility getting our daughter the help she needs. She's not yet 5 years old, but has undergone 19 surgical procedures to correct a rare genetic disorder known as Larsen's Syndrome. At this time, she is in her second year of preschool and is advanced beyond other children in her class who are in the first grade and is doing well. She will always be in a wheel chair and will always need government assistance to some degree.
The reason I'm telling all of you about my daughter is to help put things in perspective. When she was born, our insurance tried to force us to go to UCLA Medical Center because they did not have CHLA listed as "in network." UCLA is a fine medical center, if you're an adult. CHLA is just about the only facility in America with the experience to handle this condition. They also handle many conditions that no other hospital can offer. In our time there, we've met families from Central and South America, Australia, and even as far away as Egypt.
It is not illegal immigrants doing us a disservice, it is insurance companies more than anything creating this environment. Our insurance allowed us to take our child to CHLA only after we threatened to sue. We did not actually do it, but it points to how far you have to go to get proper help for your kid.
Because our insurance only contracts services with CHLA, compensation to CHLA by insurance is only partial. We estimate the total to the hospital from our daughters surgeries to be about 1 million. Guess how much the insurance actually paid the hospital. How about 25%.
The hospital tries to make it up through one-time patients such as kids with broken arms, but it tends to fall far short of making up the difference.
I can only speak for the facilities I'm familiar with and my own experiences, but I can almost guarantee I'm not alone in this, and neither are the hospitals.
Also, our governor of California has taken it upon himself to try and fix our budget problems by borrowing billions at high interest rates, and slashing health services to irresponsible levels.
For example, rolling back IHSS (In Home Supportive Services) to minimum wage. In case you're not familiar with IHSS, it is a program whereby care givers and parents (such as my wife) are paid through the state to provide care for the disabled in a private, home environment. California is the only state doing this.
In order to qualify for IHSS, you must first be receiving SSI. Depending where you live in the state determines what your pay rate is. My wife is budgeted 236 hours once a month and is paid $9.00/hr. If it wasn't for IHSS working with parents, it would cost taxpayers $60/hr for a nurse to come into our home and do the exact same job.
Cutting this program back to minimum wage will only increase the burden on taxpayers because health workers will be forced to leave the IHSS program, and it will perpetuate the institutionalization of the disabled, which is exponentially more expensive than the current program. Not to mention demeaning to the patient.
These programs are here for not only anyone who is born with disabilities, but anyone who becomes disabled through accidents, or development of a disease.
As far as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1985, doesn't everyone have a right to at least basic care? I agree that if hospitals are going to be obligated to care for ER patients whether they can pay for it or not, the government should at least offer some compensation. But placing the blame on patients? How irresponsible.
Does any other country offer this care?
One other question. If 43 million people are uninsured (and the number rises every day), but she doesn't know how many illegal aliens are in our country, how can she even suggest they're part of the problem?
The biggest reason for greater numbers of people not having insurance has nothing to with illegal immigrants, and plenty to do with our current job market. Of the 226,000 jobs created this year so far, fully 75% of them were low paying, part time non-benefit jobs.
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics states the following http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
"Over the year, the number of persons who held more than one job increased
by 432,000 to 7.7 million, not seasonally adjusted. These multiple jobholders
represented 5.5 percent of total employment in February, up from 5.3 percent
a year earlier."

More and more people are working two or more jobs just to stay financially afloat.

"The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private
nonfarm payrolls was unchanged in February, at 33.7 hours, seasonally adjusted.
The manufacturing workweek declined by 0.2 hour to 40.5 hours, the same level as
in November and December. Manufacturing overtime edged up in February to 4.6"

In other words, more and more jobs are paying at less than 40 Hrs per week, which translates into fewer and fewer jobs offering benefits unless the employee pays a large portion of the cost, with limited access under policy guidelines. This of course makes affording insurance very difficult. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t05.htm
And lets not forget the big Pharma's who charge 30% more for drugs here than anywhere else in the world, while spending nearly twice the budget on advertising as they do on research. And lets also not forget that 2/3 of the entire welfare budget is paid to corporations, not individuals.
If we're going to place blame on causes for sky rocketing health care, lets start with our congressional representatives for allowing large companies to ship our higher paying, salaried jobs with benefits overseas.

deccles,

Go have a read of an earlier entry of mine which is multiple studies on the costs of illegal aliens here in California.

There are also links in that entry to the report themselves and where the data came from (US census data, etc...).

Re: Illegal immigration and The Minuteman Project.
I sincerely hope there IS a confrontation between Minuteman Volunteers and Mexican gang members.....It would be the biggest mistake the Mexicans ever make!.... Unless they really do want to piss off thousands more Americans! Big Big Mistake! When we mobilize politically,and we are stirred by the Injustice of criminal immigrants daring to threatened US , and the Federal Government is complicite with their silence....BEWARE! "DO NOT TREAD ON ME" !

deccles.
First off I have to say I'm having difficulty keeping a civil tongue after reading your post. I would like to know if you are an American citizen or are you an immigrant from Mars. Regardles of your heritage I think you should read more, it seems you are reading things that dispute facts my friend. I dare you to come visit me and go to any social services office or emergency room near our nation's capital, they are swamped with illegal aliens with phony IDs. In a bedroom community such as I live in near DC we have it here also, I have talked with social workers locally and they tell me they are turning away dozens of phony applications monthly asking for assistance. Get off you butt and read items that differ from your views and go talk to your neighbors to see how they view the illegal immigration mess. I bet you think I'm a member of the vast right wing conspiracy don't you, You're right! You forgot to call me something else, An American Veteran who's proud to be just that and a pissed off hillbilly who thinks people like you are a danger to our freedoms!
The prececeding post by Capt.Midnight in the last sentence has a motto of sorts that has endured centuries and should be a warning to all who threaten America it goes, "Beware, Don't tread on me" Read and Heed my friend and have a good day.

Carl

The hell with all those beaners

Boy Carl, you really got me with that one. Here's a factoid for you, 40% of all illegal immigrants or people waiting for visas don't come from anywhere near south or central america. They come from Asia, Africa and Europe. This means they're flying airplanes to get in here.

Aren't you going to attack and persecute them too?

Boy deccles, get your 'factoids' right and have an intelligent debate. Fact is more ILLEGAL immigration comes from Mexico and south and central america than all others COMBINED. Heres another 'factoid', ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS DON'T WAIT FOR VISAS AT ALL! Learn what the hell you're talking about before you vomit your BS.

Erykk,

What's your source for information. Mine is the Dept of Labor. Secondly, illegal immigrants are costing money, but the tax revenue they generate is more than the costs we incur, so in reality, the states are making MORE money than it's costing. Example - Minnesota spent 200 million on supporting illegal immigrants. The same people generated 500 million in tax revenue for the state. That's a net gain of 300 million. Obviously they provide a benefit. you may not like how they get here, but without them, we'd be far worse off. Maybe YOU should try reading up on facts before spewing BS

You look at the Dpt.of Labor stats and use it as a basis for you arguments? You truly are a moron. Try looking at ALL the costs incurred within our economy to support 3 million illegals a year. A good majority of those do NOT pay taxes because they are NOT on payrolls. It would be a CRIME to put them on payrolls so they pay them under the table. Yet another crime. With all your babbling bullshit you essentially say that you support the criminal enterprise of hiring illegal aliens. Which in essence, makes YOU the criminal.

Erykk,

I've attempted to make a reasonable argument by stating documented facts and providing real information. All you seem to do is return fire with dim-witted insults and inuendo's.

Frankly, I don't see where you get the idea I support illegal business practices and the hiring of illegal aliens under the table. I'm simply trying to point out the fact that without these people doing the menial labor YOU would never do, this economy would be far worse off than it is.

If you have factual information to share. Please do so.