Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Paying through the nose for illegal alien health care


From the NY Times:

Hundreds of patients have been languishing for months or even years in New York City hospitals, despite being well enough to be sent home or to nursing centers for less-expensive care, because they are illegal immigrants or lack sufficient insurance or appropriate housing.

Yu Kang Fu was moved to a care center in Brooklyn last spring after spending over four years at New York Downtown Hospital.

As a result, hospitals are absorbing the bill for millions of dollars in unreimbursed expenses annually while the patients, trapped in bureaucratic limbo, are sometimes deprived of services that could be provided elsewhere at a small fraction of the cost.

“Many of those individuals no longer need that care, but because they have no resources and many have no family here, we, unfortunately, are caring for them in a much more expensive setting than necessary based on their clinical need,” said LaRay Brown, a senior vice president for the city’s Health and Hospitals Corporation. Under state law, public hospitals are not allowed to discharge patients to shelters or to the street.

Medicaid often pays for emergency care for illegal immigrants, but not for continuing care, and many hospitals in places with large concentrations of illegal immigrants, like Texas, California and Florida, face the quandary of where to send patients well enough to leave. Officials in New York City say they have many such patients who are draining money from the health system as the cost of keeping people in acute-care hospitals continues to escalate.

But even if Medicaid pays for some care, taxpayer dollars are ultimately being consumed by patients who could be cared for in nursing homes or other health facilities, and even at home if supportive services were available. Care for a patient languishing in a hospital can cost more than $100,000 a year, while care in a nursing home can cost $20,000 or less.

Patients fit to be discharged from hospitals but having no place to go typically remain more than five years, Ms. Brown said. She estimated that there were about 300 patients in such a predicament throughout the city, most in public hospitals or higher-priced skilled public nursing homes, though a smattering were in private hospitals.

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

obama admin. wants to keep them coming and absolutely no I.D photo cards when they vote & vote & vote &vote......for progressive,lib/dems.

we must spread the wealth that we borrow from China !

Anonymous said...

I want to know where that nursing home is that only costs $20,000 a year....

Anonymous said...

"Paying through the nose for illegal alien health care"

NO SHIT! They finally realized it?

Anonymous said...

Amazing. The end is near.

Anonymous said...

Don't you people know??? Its the white man's job to take care of the lesser races.

Do your duty and give your money!!!

georgetheatheist said...

Whatever happened to the concept of the benevolent society?

I'll tell you what. The beneficiary of charity used to say in the Olden Days, "Thank you". Today's beneficiary of largesse says, "Give me."

Anonymous said...

it used to be when the poor got charity, the giver knew it, and the recipients knew it.

now, with the benevolent government telling the poor that they are entitled to all this, the poor resents any idea that the labor of others makes the free food, free education, free health care possible.

how long can you expect people to wake up at 5am, walk pass house after house at 6am where there are other people asleep who can work but don't in order to qualify for free government benefits?

Anonymous said...

Let's also register them and give them the right to vote!

Anonymous said...

a mayor in New Haven Connecticut, (Yale progressives) has recently called for illegal alien voting.

Anonymous said...

a local bayside nursing home will cost you $12,000 to $13,000. per MONTH. after your assets deplete, MEDICAID, your taxes ,pays this cost until the end

Anonymous said...

in the meantime ,this nursing home is outbidding potential home buyers for private plots surrounding the Nursing Home property.

Anonymous said...

Sanctuary city,anyone? Perhaps the Bloomberg Family Foundation could foot the bills here, or maybe have them shipped off to that new facility they bankrolled in Israel.

Anonymous said...

Anon No. 9:

Yale is also the alma mater of William F. Buckley and the Bushes.


We have a Mayor here who calls for a lot of ridiculous things as well. He doesn't always get them here and the Connecticut state legislature would have to approve what a mayor in new Haven (they have more than one?) wants. I tend to doubt that this will happen, nor should it happen.

Anonymous said...

Oh please with this same garbage. I remember that coward Reagan kept talking about some old black woman on welfare driving a new Caddy which turns out to be a hoax. They could never produce her.
You don't look at hospitals keeping these people so they can "MILK" the tax payers. They up the costs of keeping these people to up the profit.
Your Party is lame. Your Candidates are an embarrassment to the election process. Wake up. Grow up.

Anonymous said...

Today's beneficiary of largesse says, "Give me."

My momma used to say...

"Gimme Gimme Never Gets"

Too bad that doesn't apply today...

Anonymous said...

I work in a building with a nonprofit that gives out Sec 8 vouchers -- at least twice I have3 seen them drive up in either an Escalade or a Lexus.

Anonymous said...

"Oh please with this same garbage. I remember that coward Reagan kept talking about some old black woman on welfare driving a new Caddy which turns out to be a hoax."

What do you do for a living? I work for state government, and can tell you that most(not all) but most people who get things for free (food stamps, welfare, index numbers so they can finance stupid litigation) are gaming the system, one way or another. But since that doesn't fit your progressive world view you'll choose to disbelieve me.

Anonymous said...

I work in a building with a nonprofit that gives out Sec 8 vouchers -- at least twice I have3 seen them drive up in either an Escalade or a Lexus.

If you see it you should report it. By letting it go your not doing the right thing. Thats IF this really happens.

Anonymous said...

Bye.obama!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I have a simple solution. Have the hospitals contact the patients' Embassies in the US, and notfiy them that they must pick up their citizens and relocate them back to their home countries, or provide for their care in the US.

Anonymous said...

Scene #1, take #28
Elmhurst Hospital's ER:

An "illegal" gets a $450 bottle of cough medicine for his cold that
WE ALL pay for!

And I can barely afford to pay
MY OWN health insurance premiums!

Case closed!

Pull up the gangplank and let them swim back home!

georgetheatheist said...

When you look at Elmhurst Hospital's front facade, you'll see a bunch of American flags fluttering on the flag posts attached to the wall.

How many of you remember around 10-15 years ago there were no American flags on those posts? But instead the flags of the immigrant countries whose citizens live in the hospital's area. Not one American flag was on them.

The shit somehow hit the fan and they were forced to replace those banners with Old Glory. That's why you see now so many American flags on the hospital's entrance. I never found out if that was pressure put on the hospital by outside or internal forces. Maybe a reader can elucidate.

If you go to the area schools, you'll find however prominent displays of non-US flags in the auditorium and in the hallways.

To make the immigrants feel right at home.

Check out the recent NY Times article on how the Queens Borough Public Library stocks extensive foreign language books and DVDs to make the immigrant experience "more conmfortable".

End the Babel. End the subversion. End the national suicide. It's time to make English the official language of the United States. In what language did Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence? Did the Continental Congress then approve versions in French, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Urdu, Creole, Polish, Russian, and Arabic?

PS Immigrants. If you cannot understand what I've written above, go to one of your landsmanns in your benevolent society for the translation. They'll help you there.

Auntie Invasion said...

report them to ICE and deport them. let their countries take care of them.

ask in the ghetto what the biggest scam these days are; illegal immigration. it's out in the open.

we're all getting screwed.

Anonymous said...

Yep...George...you're right!

Visit the Flushing library.

It was founded by an African American woman...Mary Ann Shaw.

She gets only token tribute by a portrait of her hanging in the rear of the building.

So, in effect, she rides the rear of the bus!

Meanwhile, there are stacks of Asian books to make the locals feel more at home.

But the Queensboro Library REFUSED to name that branch after its founder....dark skinned, Ms. Shaw.

They claimed that they do not use names on their libraries.

Meanwhile 1 1/2 miles further east
the "Mc Goldrick Branch" of the Queens Public Library has its founder's name, a Roman Catholic priest, emblazoned on its outer wall.

Hypocrisy and mendacity abounds!

And of course,
we cannot EVER offend the Asian colonizers...especially when they stoke the political campaign fires with cash from the Orient.

Eh, Congressman Ackerman?

Queens Crapper said...

What's their explanation for the Langston Hughes Library in East Elmhurst?

Cherokeesista said...

@Georgetheatheist Exactly why I like you ;-) Tell it like it is !!!!

Anonymous said...

The Langston Hughes Library started as a private library and then somehow was incorporated into the Queensboro Library system. that would make an interesting story!

They have a well funded after school program, teaching music and doing "home work help". that translates to free babysitting for the illegal immigrant's jackpot babies in Corona. Where does this money come from? How does the Langston Hughes Library bet so much of it?

Did you ever hear of after school programs before the illegal alien invasion?

I'm angered by the huge amount government dollars going to assist illegal aliens at the expense of elderly, disabled and unemployed citizens. Americans are being pushed not just to the back of the bus, but totally off the bus.

The Langston Hughes Library was offered the papers and works of a deceased Queens musician/community activist, who taught music at the Library. The person who approached their administration was told that they wouldn't take the archive because he's white. They only want black people represented there. The kicker was the he was very involved with this library.

Anonymous said...

#14....RONALD REAGAN'S bio states that as a young man he personally saved many drowning swimmers,in Ill. when a lifegaurd.

he took on the U.S.S.R's gorbechev and reduced them to only a russia state ,no satelites ,Ukraine ,Poland ,East Germany etc

he also sent bombers to Libya and put a bomb in Kadafy's tent.after kadafy had the military lounge in indonesia bombed.

when the commies tried to build a bomber accessible air field in the caribbean,he sent troops and saved the U.S. hostages at the medical school.

Anonymous said...

This is a country of immigrants and a city of immigrants. I can't understand all of the negative comments about immigrants that are posted here. Even illegal immigrants contribute just as much to our society as they cost the society in services provided to them. There have been many studies done about the costs and benefits of illegal immigration and the majority of these studies have concluded that the costs and benefits are about equal.

And if you want to blame anyone for the fact that there are a substantial number of illegal immigrants in this country, you should blame the large corporations who benefit from having them here--they are able to keep their costs lower by paying lower wages for certain types of jobs. It's interesting that the commenters here never mention these corporations and want to only place blame on the immigrants themselves.

Queens Crapper said...

"Even illegal immigrants contribute just as much to our society as they cost the society in services provided to them. There have been many studies done about the costs and benefits of illegal immigration and the majority of these studies have concluded that the costs and benefits are about equal."

You are full of shit. Show me one study that is solely about illegal immigrants giving back as much as they take with regard to schools, hospitals, other services. You can't. First of all, no one really knows how many illegals are in the country. Second, EVERY study lumps both legal and illegal immigrants together. Third, the illegals don't own property and work off the books, so what taxes do they pay? And if they do pay social security, it's because they stole someone's identity.

Anonymous said...

How many Americans do illegal aliens kill every year? How can you put a value on their lives?

Anonymous said...

Queens Crapper, here are some links to articles about various studies showing that the benefits of illegal immigration outweigh the costs, or that the costs and benefits are roughly equal:

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/blogs/prop-zero/Illegal-Immigrant-Costs-Benefits-Disputed-Net-Plus-92542864.html

http://www.cfr.org/immigration/economic-logic-illegal-immigration/p12969

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401552.html

So contrary to your assertion, there are many studies that examine the costs and benefits of illegal immigration. And there are definitely studies that have concluded that the benefits of illegal immigration outweigh the costs or that the costs and benefits are roughly equal.

Anonymous said...

#29...you are a Master of Deceit.you have to be one of the Queensboro C.C. illegal alien lobby group members?

as per Q.C., you are really full of crap.

Anonymous said...

as at least four commenters targeted the cost of educating the children of illegal aliens to the nyc taxpayer,i must add this info.
the cost per year for (1)pupil was $13,000 in 2004.
" " " is $20,000 in 2011-2012

the cost " Special Ed." was $65,000. in 2004.
" " " is $87,500. In 2011.

the $87,500. figure is based on the 35% increase from 2004 to 2011, because the D.O.E no longer lists this data on it's website ? i guess transparency is not warranted for the taxpayers own good. the shock of it all....

one local S.E.site has 59 "pupils x 87,500. =$5,177,250. the entire P.S.933,S.E.Program has about 450 pupils x $87,500.=$39,487,500.

how many of these pupils are anchor babies from illegal parents ? why does it cost so much ? if you search the d.o.e.website these many so-called schools are numerous. could it be salaries,healthcare and pensions for the union providers? when does this scamming of the tax payer end ?

Queens Crapper said...

Let's take your articles one by one:

"The majority of (illegal immigrants) pay social Security taxes," Gerber said. "Many of them pay income taxes. They all pay sales taxes. They pay property taxes from the rents they pay for the places they rent. Many of them are property owners, in fact."

The majority of them are not on the books, are paid cash and therefore pay no social security taxes or income taxes. They do NOT pay property taxes because the vast majority of them don't own property, at least not in NYC. How do they get loans to purchase property? This article lacks any data and flies in the face of common sense.

Next.

The second article states that by disallowing illegals, we would be hurting our economy. We need to allow them in because companies want cheap labor. Again, no data in this article. No comparison of the cost to the American taxpayer for feeding, treating medically, educating, jailing vs. tax income. And then there's human cost. You can't replace your kid who was killed in a crash by someone who wasn't supposed to be here in the first place, for example. And then who do you sue? Can't get money from his indigent family and you won't get far trying to sue the govt for allowing him in. In fact, the summary of this report suggests maintaining the status quo, and doesn't even support the guest worker program. A stimulation of the economy does not equal that they "pay for themselves". It's funny, before we had millions of illegals, our economy functioned just fine. When the new law in Alabama went into effect, there were local impacts on economies of small towns, but overall, unemployment went down because Americans went to work. Imagine that.

And the final article has these passages:

Undocumented workers in the Washington area, according to the Urban Institute, pay a hefty share of taxes, but they contribute less than they should because many are paid off the books and do not file yearly tax forms. A report by the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors reduced immigration, said that illegal-immigrant households imposed $26 billion in costs on the federal government while paying $16 billion in taxes. This week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities raided meatpacking plants in six states in search of illegal immigrants they said were using illegally obtained Social Security numbers.

FAIR said the report plays down the impact of illegal immigration by not counting the children of illegal immigrants who had become U.S. citizens. In a previous report, FAIR estimated that Texas schools paid more than $1.7 billion to educate illegal immigrants and the legal children of illegal immigrants in 2003-2004.


So yeah, if you're not including the cost of technically American kids who wouldn't have been born here had their parents not jumped the fence, then of course you're going to get a different set of numbers. People play with numbers to suit their agenda, but common sense dictates that if you aren't required to pay taxes or pay for services provided, you aren't going to pay.

Now show me an article that compares the cost of illegal immigration in NYC vs. how much they pay in taxes and contribute to the economy. All you showed me are links to Texas, California and Washington.

Anonymous said...

QC, here are your statements to which I responded with the links to 3 articles:

"Show me one study that is solely about illegal immigrants giving back as much as they take with regard to schools, hospitals, other services. You can't."

"EVERY study lumps both legal and illegal immigrants together."

The articles I posted discuss several different studies solely about illegal immigration's costs and benefits and these studies do not lump both legal and illegal immigrants together. So the studies discussed in these articles show that your comments above are not true.

After initially asking me to show you a study that concludes that illegal immigration's benefits and costs are roughly equal, and I provided articles that discuss several such studies, now you changed your request to asking for a study that focuses on illegal immigration in NYC. But such a study is not necessary to support my statement because the first article (from NBC San Diego) refers to national studies that concluded that the benefits outweigh the costs. Also, the second article also discusses a national study about this issue that has the same conclusion. These studies' conclusions apply to the whole country, including NYC.

Also, while you may be able to critique certain parts of the articles that discuss these studies, the point is that studies concluding that the benefits of illegal immigration outweigh the costs do exist. When reading your blog, people would never know that there were any benefits of illegal immigration whatsoever. You (and many commenters here) only focus on one side of the impact of illegal immigration: the costs. That was really my main reason for posting my initial comment--to show that there is another perspective on this issue that is not being addressed on this blog.

Queens Crapper said...

This blog is about NYC, and specifically Queens. The article that I originally posted shows that NYC taxpayers are paying through the nose for illegal alien health care. It doesn't matter what nationwide studies or studies about other states show. NYC taxpayers, who are NYS taxpayers, who are US taxpayers are triply impacted in paying for illegal alien health care, schooling and other benefits.

Please come back when you have studies that are relevant to the topic under discussion.

Anonymous said...

Please tell me what NYC job wouldn't be filled by an American or legal immigrant. Cook, busboy, gardener, etc. We don't have farms here. Even agrarian societies, like that in Alabama, have shown increased employment among legal residents when illegals are cracked down upon.

Anonymous said...

i may have calculated the % increase of of the cost for 1 public school pupil ,per year.

because the d.o.e. website no longer reports these costs, i had to extrapolate from year 2004 to 2011.

the cost in 2004 was $13,000. the cost in 2011 (M.S.M) is $20,000. the increase is $7,000. $7,000 divided by $13,000 = 53 % increase.

for the special education calculation:$65,000 (1) pupil @ 53% =$34,450. +$65,000. = a staggering $99,450. to "educate (1) P.S.993 pupil @P.S.130 Q.

for the approximate 450 pupils in the 933 program that computes to$44,752,500.

is this cost SUSTAINABLE, now that the city and state are going broke ?why are these costs so outrageous ? can anyone confirm these calculations ? i hope that i am wrong .

Anonymous said...

Many of these illegals are also wising up in other ways related to hospital.
They fall of ladders, roofs, stick hands in equipment & stag accidents with each other.
These parasites then lawyer up and get $100s of thousands of dollars or take YOUR house if a contractor doesnt have them on his insurence policy!!
To some these people loosing a hand or some fingers with saw is worth $100,000 to take back to Pueblo Mexico

Anonymous said...

I have no research or studies to post, but i find it hard to believe that an illegal alien who is not paying taxes but using all the services that our tax money is paying for is doing us a favor .. not to mention doing a job that an unemployed citizen can be doing..

do me a favor.. dont do me any favors

THANKS