Ninety seven million, three hundred thousand dollars.
Let that number soak in for a minute.
$97,300,000.
That is how much Harris County Hospital District spent from county funds to treat illegal aliens in fiscal 2005. A little over 3 million more was paid by third party payees such as insurance companies and cash payments, etc. Roughly a similar amount was paid 28 million in addition by federal funds through grants etc., for a total outlay of somewhere in the neighborhood of 104 128 million dollars. That $97.3 million accounted for 14% of the fiscal year 2005 budget. This amount is only for the county hospitals. Private hospitals have to eat their outlays when illegals are brought to their ER’s by EMS. That amount compares quite unfavorably to fiscal year 2003 when the outlay was 55 million and was something like 11% of the budget.
That my friends is what unfunded mandates and social safety nets combined with a total lack of control of the borders cost. You had better break out the checkbooks.
Editor’s note: the above corrections are due to mis-remembered bits of an on air interview between Chris Baker and Steve Radack. The Chronicle has a more in depth story in today’s paper that had not been posted as of the time of the original post.
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43 Responses to “Doctor Bill Sticker Shock”Search
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Answer me this. Why arent these people required to pay their bills? The drive up to the ER in a car they paid for. They wear clothes they paid for. They will go to a home or apt that they pay for.They sure use something other than their good looks to eat at the taco wagon. We are told by the appeaser GWB that they are all here working. So why cant they pay the F’n hospital bill? Get their name and address and call the collection agency on them.You can bet your ass they send thousands of dollars back to Mexico each month. When I go to the hospital I sign my life away and I get bills until I pay them. Is it because i’m a cracker and they are just “undocumented citizens”? ISMHLYKW™
WTF??????
Let them die in the desert! Take down the water stations NOW!
Slow down Shakey. At least let me find you one to put in your floor. My yard needs to be cut too. We can do this in an orderly manner. Send the old and sick ones first. We’ll keep the good young strong ones till we can replace them with the Chinese slaves you ordered. I hear they are on backorder.WTF? If Won Hung Lo cancels our order I want my $5 grand back.
But I thought that the illegals were good for our economy because they do the jobs nobody else does!
/sarcasm
gregg, LOL yeah let the carpet/floor installers thru first! I will give them champagne in the desert as long as they get my floor down cheap!
The Chinese aren’t good with floors! But they really know how to sew!
No matter how long I look at it, I can’t comprehend the full magnitude of the cost of this. What I mean is this:
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalrelease.html
If all these numbers about what illegals cost us are correct (and I have no reason to doubt they are), I wonder what the total financial burden that they place on America is when you consider Federal, State, and City combined. I probably don’t really want to know. America continues to get poorer through social safety nets and dumber by dilution, but hey, at least we can get our yardwork done cheaply.
Ahh screw all those numbers. As long as they pull the “D” lever everythings cool. GWB is hoping they pull the “R” lever.Weve been sold out by the suits.
Greg aka T-Bone and Headshaker please remember that the illegal problem is not a race problem it is a border problem, an economic problem and a constitutional crisis. If action is not taken (not based on race) the country is in grave danger. Our employees that represent us in our state and US capitals must be made to understand that they work for us. If this does not happen all is lost, but please do not get offensive with your comments.
Sad but true. They get votes and cheap labor and we get it in the arse without the benefit of lubrication. Dammit Gregg, you’re making me sound like you now.
What are you all complaining about? This is petty cash. Petty, I say! Just suck it up and get with the program! America is rich enough to pay for everybody’s needs! As long as it’s coming out of the pockets of th rich (and anyone who complains is obviously rich), what do you care? I certainly don’t, since I have defined myself as “not rich”.
(liberal sneaks out back door)
I don’t know why you’re so worked up about it. They are simply receiving the health care that Americans won’t receive…sarcasm intended…
Mr Ink Blots,
Many on this blog get irate at the idea of abortion and euthanasia. Please tell me what the difference is between those acts and denying essential health care to folks who have no health insurance.
I totally agree that we need to get our borders under control for a variety of reasons, but I can find no moral or ethical justification reason for kicking illegals out of the emergency room.
Simple
time to have a tea party in washington. if we could just get 1 million of us taxpayers to quit payinf taxes - that would cause a stir. all it would take is 10,ooo protery tax cases and that would close those courts.
lets face facts the money rules the day and the parties. right now both stink like dead fish!
untill we get money out of politics we will have this type of government.
i would be willing to have our taxes to be equally distributed for politcal campaigns. no other money could be used by a candidate. that would stop the money from controlling them. each office holder would be audited for any favors coming bck to them in the sly ways. pacs go away and be ruled illegal. allpolitical contributions would be outlawed. the only source of campaign funds would be from the government.
ah shooooot it’ll never happen. they are to greedy.
gregg #1
These people are here illegally, they are undocumented and their names may be fake. The driver’s licenses are probably fakes as are their social security numbers. They give a fake addresses. How can a hospital send bills or hope to collect? Most of them do not own their own homes and move from apartment to apartment. Thus, we don’t know who they really are.
This is insane spending on people who should have been stopped at the border. Perhaps Bush and his cronies should reimburse the HCHD for their ineptness at border control.
Would we get equal treatment in another country?
Why or whynot?
Read #6 above… what is the real cost?
#12 simple, it is not about kicking them out of the ER, although a number show up with non-emergency issues and they certainly SHOULD be kicked out.
It is about how the federal government, though it’s inaction has stuck us, the harris county taxpayer with this bill and then failed to cover it. The taxpayers up north get a break by not having to pay for this out of their fed. taxes while thier senators fight to prevent us from keeping them out.
I work for an international insurance company; we do alot of international travel packages.
We have had clients literally held hostage in the hospital, with their passport taken from them, until the bill is either paid by the client or guaranteed by the insurance company. And these are tourist-friendly facilities, in the vacation hotspots.
Of course, if we started that here, the hospital would be a POW camp full of hostages that could never pay for their care.
How about we sell insurance on the border for all illegals (and tourists) coming across the border: If they cannot prove they have adequate health insurance (and car insurance, if they are driving a vehicle), then before they can pass and enter the country, they must pay a one-year insurance premium; otherwise they go back. Ha Ha
#17 Rorschach
the reason they go to the ER is because they know if they go to a doctor’s office without insurance, payment will be expected at the time of service; ERs these days don’t even ask for a deposit (unless you have insurance; then they may or may not request the copay); and ERs cannot refuse treatment to anyone; until a doctor has established a doctor-patient relationship, he has no obligation to treat someone
That is why the ERs are so clogged up that it takes hours to see a doctor; I once went to an ER here in Houston with severe abdominal pain; I thought my appendix was ready to pop; I sat in the waiting room for 6 hours; finally I asked if I could at least lie on a guerney. And this was a hospital where I used to be a nurse in the ER, so they knew me!! (I hope that is not why I got such shabby treatment)
Illegals don’t just cost money, they cost lives.
Two More Americans Struck Down:
http://blog.vdare.com/archives/2006/06/16/two-more-americans-struck-down/
For those of you who want the skinny on the totalization agreement with Mexico, go here.
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/back904.html
Now this is some major money going to illegals.
Neo, good morning! If these illegals use fake documents, how will GWB do background checks on them for citizenship? There must be a damn good reason our leaders bend over forward to let these people in. It has to be more than a vote. It might be Mexico will colapse and start a civil war if all these folks were made to stay. We are the relief valve for that action.
We should go ahead and annex Mexico and make it the 51st state and open up the land like the old west was.
Gregg
#22
I totally agree with you. There is no way to do background checks and GWB doesn’t want that anyway. I am really tired of Fox dictating our border policy and I am tired of GWB rolling over and playing dead. Just remember, GWB wants open borders with Mexico. He is, in my opinion, a globalist. He’ll toss us a few bones (i.e., National Guard on the border) but he doesn’t mean what he is telling the American people.
It takes 38,920 households paying $2500.00 a year to provide this amount of medical care. SUCKERS!
FourAlarm
#24
Suckers? Show me where we have a choice in paying for this crap. I would really like to get off the list of taxpayers paying for illegal aliens.
#25 Neo, we’re suckers because we keep voting those morons back into office that allow this crap to continue. You want to stop paying? make sure you elect someone who’s going to do something about it.
#27 - You are right on the money…don’t elect someone who is against border control AND will do something.
Bush is a very dangerous man. He is no good old boy. He is helping to delute the USA. This is the “brown out” plan. Mix in a 200,000,000 Mexicans, and you’ll definately “dumb down” America. It will create chaos. The Saudis are very proud of GWB. If there’s a way to destroy what America has been, GWB is exercising every option.
He’ll be sippin’ cervezas with Fox down at the Bush Ranch, just outside of Mexico City, watching the stupid Americans “deal with it”. Enjoy you current tax rates. We aren’t paying “zilch” compared to what our kids/grandkids will pay to cover the cost of this TOTAL FRIGGIN’ MADNESS!!!
Even scarier is the fact that he doesn’t care that the Republicans will loose power. He doesn’t care that the Democrats will take control, pull out the troops, and bring the war on terror to our malls, restaurants, sports venues, etc….
Cracker,
Oh come now! Don’t hold back! Tell us what you really think.
Is it possible that some of those immigrants will be good citizens? I’ll bet the Native-Americans said the same thing about your ancestors, when the English emptied their jails and populated the southern states.
Simple
Simple, no it is not possible. Good citizens pay thier taxes and obey the law, they are already violating the law and not paying taxes, so they are already “bad citizens”
Mr Ink Blots,
Many of my neighbors are recent immigrants. I do not know if they are citizens, resident aliens, or just passing thru, but they own their homes, shop at the local stores, and have steady jobs. I suppose this means that they pay FICA, Income Tax, Property Tax, and Sales Tax. Sometimes I think we are living in the state of Taxes. If you know a way to get out of paying taxes in this state, please let me know because I want to get some of that action.
My neighbors have the neatest lawns and well kept homes. Their children are well behaved and go to school. I have taken time to get to know them and find their values are not too different from mine.
I do agree that we need to get control of the borders for economic reasons, but this is a problem that will not be solved overnight. It took years to get to this point and will likely take years to find a solution, which I suspect no one on any side of the issue will like.
Simple
If they are here, they are violating the law. it realy is that simple, but apparently that is still too complex for you.
Mr Ink Blots,
I agree that any undocumented workers here are violating the law. Is this a felony or a lesser crime? I do not believe that it has gotten to the point of being a federal felony. Please correct me if otherwise.
Simple
what difference does it make? does it being not a felony mean that they can ignore all laws that aren’t felonies with impunity? and how many misdemeanors can you violate before they add up to a felony?
Mr Ink Blots,
Perhaps we could deport all of the traffic violators, income tax cheats, adulterers, jaywalkers, and litterbugs as well. We should pay special attention to the folks who do not buckle their seat belts too.
Simple
That has got to be the most assinine response you’ve made yet and that is saying quite a bit. Can you say Straw Man? Each misdemeanor you mention has a legally mandated range of punishments. None of which are deportation. The legally mandated punishment for being in the country IS deportation.
Neither you nor I can pick and choose which laws we will and which ones we won’t follow, why should they have that option?
One way to help alleviate the problem is for the hospital district (through the county government) to create an administrative penalty/fine against anyone caught hiring an illegal worker. This fine could be something like $10,000 per day per worker to be paid by anyone hiring illegals to work for them - including anyone hiring them for yardwork, housecleaning, or childcare. Because this would limit the incentive to hire illegals, there would be fewer jobs, thereby fewer illegals here. Before the disincentive would kick in, the burden on the county infrastructure would be alleviated with the $$$ received in fines. By making them admin penalties (like the red light cameras), much of the problems of enforcing criminal penalties is removed.
Mr Ink Blots,
Is the punishment deportation for being in the country illegally or is this a choice the undocumented are given if they waive a trial that they are entitled to getting under due process?
Deportation would eventually come after a trial, but the recent news highlights the fact that illegals who are actually convicted of violent felonies are simply released back into the population. The beloved Customs and Immigration folks made a big deal of a “Return to Sender” effort to round up 2000 such illegals. The 2000 were only the tip of the iceberg, but it made a good show for the folks who are easily impressed.
Am I being asinine? Maybe? I just think the issue is not as simple as some folks think. We are not going to get up one morning and march eleven million folks back across the border.
Yes, some of the illegals that are here are violating the law, but so are the folks who hire illegal labor. There are already laws on the books to punish employers, but they are poorly enforced.
This is where the problem will be solved. They will not come if there are no jobs, but do not expect this to happen overnight. The State of Nebraska decided to get tough on illegal labor, but no sooner than the first raids were made, the meat-packing lobby put pressure on the state to dial it back. The message was “Don’t put us out of business!”.
It will be interesting to see the “Chamber of Commerce/Country-Club” and “Social Conservative” factions duke it out over this issue. I wonder who can afford the most effective lobbyists?
Simple
No ALL of the illegals here are violating the law. EVERY DAMNED ONE. Hence the term ILLEGAL.
Why CAN’T we frog march 11 million out of the country? If they can’t work and make money most will leave on thier own. The rest will eventually make a mistake and get caught. Others will be afraid of getting caught and will leave on their own. it won’t happen overnight, or even in a year, but if ICE can be left alone by the pet politicians, they will make a decent dent in that number.
You are correct that in years past ICE was told to cease and desist by certain political pets of big business. Bush appears to be one of those pets.
But the fact that the law was not well enforced does not mean it was not illegal to violate the law. You violate the law at your own risk. ALWAYS. You may get away with it, or you might not, but if you do get caught, claiming that “everybody else was doing it too” is not a legal defense and you know it. When was the last time that worked when you were pulled over for speeding?
So what are the people who are upset about paying for the health care of illegal aliens doing about it? (The cost of educating illegal aliens and the children of illegal aliens is even higher.)
Are you helping any of the groups in the Houston area who are against illegal immigration? Are you calling your City Council member about the sanctuary policy? About the day labor center we’re also funding for mainly illegal aliens? Calling Mayor White to object to all of this?
What are you doing other than complaining online?
I have called and written and emailed my senators and congressmenn, I have threatened them with defeat at the polls, I have been active in my local precinct. I have contacted my county commissioners. I have submitted what I feel is a fairly comprehensive list of changes that Dan can help to make on the state level. About the only thing I have not done is travel to south texas to work with the Minutemen.
BTW, I do not consider “complaining on line” as you call it, useless. It raises awareness and gets the message out in front of people who may not have made up thier minds yet on the issue.
Ink Blots,
Nothing like a big fat campaign contribution to endear your cause in the heart of your representative.
Social conservatives must feel a great deal like black voters these days. They only have one party to champion their cause and that party only pay the social conservatives lip service.
The point is that if the only thing people do is complain, gripe, etc. about it, then they will have a LOT more to complain about later. You do more than most, Rorschach.
One more thing you and others can do, sign the petition to change the Houston City Charter to get rid of Houston’s sanctuary policy. Need 20,000 signatures, if you live within the Houston City limits.
http://www.protectourcitizens.com/
Tell others.