Executives from nine private Los Angeles County hospitals are asking for more money from the county and state taxpayers because of the "influx of the uninsured" into the area and recent closures of other local Emergency Rooms due to finances. Funny how they put it as an "influx of the uninsured" in the article. I personally don't think a bunch of poor people are moving from the mid-west to Los Angeles County in enough numbers to bankrupt emergency rooms, so I wonder where they're coming from and why the article doesn't just state the fact that this "influx of the uninsured" are illegal aliens?
For example, I covered the story of illegal alien Mauricio Hernandez, who used $37,500 in the first 4 months of 2006 for routine medical care. Also in that article is the term the Hispanic illegal alien community uses for this free emergency room care, "Madre del cielo" or Mother from heaven. The abuse is so prevalent they have given it an actual name!
From 1990 to Aug 2004, 70 hospital emergency rooms and trauma centers have closed in California. In May 2005, Arizona began receiving about $45 million in federal funds for uninsured care. That's right, even if you don't live in Arizona some of your money is going there to pay for their treatment of illegal aliens.
The leaders of Los Angeles County have openly courted illegal aliens for years saying that they contribute to the economy more than they take out. If that is the case then why have 5 emergency rooms in Los Angeles County closed their doors in the past 5 years due to not being paid? Why do the legal residents and citizens have to accept sub-par emergency room care and high taxes? If the illegal aliens are contributing so much to the economy why aren't there more emergency rooms opening in Los Angeles County than closing?
Because it's a sham and everyone involved doesn't want to address the real issue and reason they are having to close.
Some of the nine emergency rooms may close their doors as early as next year if they don't receive more taxpayer funds to cover their loses.
Daily Breeze
The nine private hospitals have been losing millions of dollars due to the influx of uninsured patients and those covered by Medi-Cal ...
"We don't have the luxury of failing," said Jim Lott, executive director of the Hospital Association of Southern California .... "If we see even one of these hospitals close, it will have a dramatic ripple effect on the whole health system. It would make a horrible situation even worse."
The August closure of the 48-bed emergency room at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital in Willowbrook was the tipping point of a long-simmering problem, Lott said. Four other hospitals or emergency rooms have closed in the last five years, forcing patients in some of the poorest areas near Hawthorne, Gardena and El Segundo into already-crowded hospitals that have had to absorb about 100,000 additional emergency room visits each year.
These areas are all highly occupied illegal alien havens and due to this fact their emergency rooms had to close because they were using them like the local pharmacy for everything from a cough and cold to a skinned knee.
For those who don't know, hospitals cannot ask for proof of citizenship in emergency rooms due to a federal law. They just have to eat the costs if false information is submitted and the bill is never paid. Of course you can try doing that as an American citizen, but I can almost guarantee you they'll find you and make you pay one way or another. In this case they are demanding more money from taxpayers to cover these losses.
The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services has negotiated contracts to absorb some of the financial impact of new patients, but hospitals are still bearing the brunt of it, executives say.
Hospitals must eat the cost of uninsured patients and receive only about 60 percent of what it costs to treat Medi-Cal patients from the state. The rates, which can vary widely, are negotiated between the hospital and the California Medical Assistance Commission.
The executives on Thursday will ask the commission to renegotiate their contracts because, they say, the circumstances of running their business have changed because of the recent closures...
Some hospitals have threatened complete closure if the situation doesn't improve soon.
To those of you in Los Angeles who need an emergency room some day and are in support of illegal immigration, you reap what you so. I just hope it doesn't end up costing you your life because they have to drive you out of county to get care after all the emergency rooms close down. To everyone else in Los Angeles County who are legally here and pay their taxes and expect service, stand up and fight already!
