This is where I separate from the usual left. IF...IF you are in this country illegally. I believe zero taxpayers dollars should be spent on you. This is not unlike Mexico, where if you are an American citizen in Mexico zero dollars are spent on you. If you show up at an emergency room, and you are an illegal. That is something you had the ability to think about before the emergency.
Who pays for it? An American visiting another country is typically doing so on vacation and they have money. An illegal has nothing coming here so they have no money to pay. I agree it sucks to fork out the money for them, which is why they shouldn’t be here in the first place.
Does anyone have a reasonable argument against this?ERs, I get. They shouldn't turn anyone away. However, continued care, treatment, prescriptions etc, for illegals shouldn't be paid by taxpayers
The hospital eats the cost even if Medicaid doesn't reimburse. That cost gets shifted to paying patients. Eventually they end up shutting down ERs and hospitals in poorer areas. Ending Medicaid for illegals may or may not make a big difference to the average person. For someone who doesn't use the healthcare system it might lower their tax burden. The overall cost to someone who does legitimately use the healthcare system might end up being higher as a result. When administrators and politicians make healthcare decisions it doesn't always follow to a logical conclusion.I don't know the right answer and I'm not saying your POV is wrong. I'm just saying cutting Medicaid for illegals might not lower all of our costs even though it seems like it should at a first glance.
But... ER's are being abused by people for that very reason. That's why if you go to an ER, where my insurance punishes me with a $100 co pay, because they want me to go to an Urgent care due to cost, you'll see an avalanche of people with no insurance there for common ailments
How many folks do you suppose never need to use the healthcare system at some point in their lives? What connection is there between taxes and folks using the healthcare system?
Having spent time in Mexico and hold a temporary residency card, I can say that a vast majority of medical situations involve expats. The difference I've seen between the US and Mexico is most of us can afford to pay out of pocket in Mexico. For example, I had an ear infection and a plane ride coming in a few days. Went to the local pharmacy that was attached to a pharmacy. For under $25 dollars I got the exam and the antibiotics. Here, my co pay is $30
I think there needs to be some standard set as to what constitutes an emergency. Would lighten the load of ERs if everyone with the sniffles wasn't sitting in the lobby.
