Free Medical Care—no insurance required


I lived most of my adult life in Tucson, Arizona. I believe it was in the mid-to-late 1980’s when a two hospital system—St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s—was caught cheating on their Medicare reimbursements by the federal government. Surprising isn’t it? Not that they were cheating but that the federal government actually caught them.

As punishment, the hospitals had to accept and treat all patients who walked through the door—unusually through the emergency room door. I knew a nurse who worked in the emergency room at St. Mary’s. Soon, the emergency room often had more patients waiting for medical assistance for non-emergency treatment than actual emergencies. Word had quickly spread that someone could walk through the door with a toothache and be treated even if that person could not or would not pay. The emergency room became the “doctor” of choice.

Fast forward to the United States in the 2000’s. The following is from USA Today, May 18, 2005, page 3A.

“Mexicans go to Arizona for medical help”

“By Dennis Wagner
USA Today

Bisbee, Ariz.—Antonio Valenzuela Gomez, a retired factory worker who boasts 49 grandchildren, lifts his shirt to show the giant scar where American doctors cut into his chest a year ago.

Gomez, 79, was at his house in the dusty Mexican border town of Naco near here when his heart began to fail. There is no hospital in that part of Mexico, so family members loaded Gomez in a car and drove him a short distance to the U.S. checkpoint.

An ambulance (paid for indirectly by you and me—my addition) arrived from the Arizona side and rushed Gomez 7 miles to Copper Queen Community Hospital here. Emergency room workers stabilized him (paid for indirectly by you and me—my addition) and sent him 80 miles north to Tucson Medical Center, where heart surgery was performed (paid for indirectly by you and me—my addition).

Gomez, who spent three weeks in U.S. hospitals (paid for indirectly by you and me—my addition), thinks the bill was about $20,000—likely a fraction of the actual cost. He offers gratitude along with small monthly payments that will never cover the expense. (Probably won’t cover the interest—my addition.) ‘They saved my life,’ he says. ‘They treated me well.’

Along the border from Chula Vista, Calif., to Brownsville, Texas, U.S. hospitals serve as a medical safety net for undocumented immigrants (illegal immigrants—my addition) and residents of northern Mexico. Each year, their care costs American medical centers, consumers and taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. (Or, is that actually billions of dollars?—my addition) During 2002, 38 Arizona medical centers surveyed by the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association reported losses on foreign–national patients of $153 million.”

Shouldn’t the Mexican government reimburse these medical facilities for the medical care provided to THEIR citizens? Why are you and I indirectly paying these costs?

“Hospitals are required by law to treat all emergency patients, regardless of nationality or legal status.”

DID you catch that? Hospitals MUST treat ALL patients who walk through the emergency room door! Did you know that? It does NOT matter if the hospitals never collect a dime from a patient? It does NOT matter if providing such free services will cause the hospital to close its doors or lay off workers to cover their losses. Hospitals are required by federal law to provide medical treatment to anyone who walks through the emergency room doors.

Thus, in Arizona, Mexican citizens routinely drive to Tucson hospitals’ emergency rooms to have a baby delivered in Arizona, USA. First, if they don’t want to, they know they will not have to pay for the services provided. And second, because every baby delivered in a Tucson hospital to a Mexican national IS AUTOMATICALLY a natural born United States citizen. And you and I are indirectly paying for all of it if they do not.

Will this change under the “Nationalized Healthcare” bill now before the House of Representatives. Not that I can tell. In fact, the Republicans in committee proposed an amendment to the bill that specifically EXCLUDES illegal immigrants from being covered in the “Nationalized Healthcare” bill and it was VOTED DOWN!!!

I moved to Illinois five years ago to care for a relative as family should. During the five years, I have spent some time in emergency rooms. On one occasion, we arrived in the afternoon and after she was taken to be examined by a doctor, I settled down in a chair in the waiting room to read a book.

Soon a gentleman, who was obviously homeless or nearly so, was being led out into the commons area. The hospital employee and he were engaged in conversation. I soon heard her say, “You are being released now.” as she led him to the door and out.

Approximately forty-five minutes later, he was back declaring that he was still sick and wanted to be admitted to the hospital. After some additional conversation, the hospital employee relented and said that he would be readmitted to the hospital. His first words after that statement were: “What’s for dinner?”

If you know the system, you can get FREE MEDICAL CARE and sometimes free dinners at any hospital in the United States. IT’S THE LAW!

Congress created the above system! And now they are going to make it better? If you believe that, I own a bridge in the middle of the Arizona desert that I’m willing to sell to you for just a few billion dollars. Are you interested?