Hospitals send illegals back where they belong

By William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.:

In a whiney article chock full of undertones of liberal outrage, the New York Times reported recently that "U.S. hospitals are taking it upon themselves to repatriate seriously injured or ill immigrants because they cannot find nursing homes willing to accept them without insurance."

To which I say, "FINALLY!"

My opinions on the subject of "undocumented" aliens are, ironically, very well documented. Having an additional 20 million or so people in the country using our schools and our healthcare system without kicking in to help pay for them is an incredible burden that the rest of us must bear. So even though the New York Times wants me to shake my head in dismay at those big hospital meanies, I just won't do it.

The fact is, someone's got to draw the line somewhere. There's not a limitless supply of money in our country (no matter how much of it the government is willing to throw away).

According to the article, newly arrived documented and undocumented immigrants qualify for emergency medical care only under Medicaid, which "covers only a small fraction of the cost." Do you see anything wrong with that sentence? Why is it that the UNDOCUMENTED (remember: this means ILLEGAL) "qualify" for anything? If you are not in the U.S. legally, then you are not entitled to a darned thing.

Yet the Times complains that, because the majority of state governments do not fund post-hospital care for undocumented or temporary, or documented immigrants, "hospitals are operating in a void, without governmental assistance of oversight, leaving ample room for legal and ethical transgressions on both sides of the border."

Puh-leeze.

Of course, the "immigrant advocates" are up in arms about this. For some reason, they vilify the hospitals for sending these people back where they came from. The Times article says pro-immigration groups complain that repatriation means "ambulances taking patients in the wrong direction, away from first-world hospitals to less adequate care, if any."

To which I say, "So? What's the problem?" What makes these people think they're entitled to first-world health care when they're not U.S. citizens? The mindset is amazing to me.

Personally, I think it's great that hospitals are doing exactly what the Immigration and Naturalization Services Department should be doing every day – putting illegals back on boats, planes – or in this case, ambulances – and getting them out of the country.

But of course, leave it to the left-leaning judges to take the illogical other side of the argument. The Times article describes the case of one illegal immigrant from Guatamala who was in a crash with a drunk driver. Afterwards, a Florida hospital saved his life twice and, unable to find a rehab center that would accept an uninsured patient, this hospital cared for this man for YEARS to the tune of $1.5 million! The hospital then requested a court ruling to return the man to Guatemala. This was granted by a Florida judge, and the man was transported by air ambulance to Guatamala – which cost the hospital another $30,000.

Incredibly, this ruling was overturned by a district court of appeals, which said there was no evidence that Guatamala would provide the appropriate care! What's more, the appeals court also ruled – and you'll love this – that the hospital can be sued by the man for punitive damages and the cost of his medical care!

I'm not ashamed to point out the one ignored and very obvious fact in this entire story: if this Guatamalan man had not come to the U.S. illegally, he'd never have been hit by that drunk driver. And if you think I'm a heartless monster for thinking that, consider this: if you were in Guatamala without a passport, and you were hit by a drunk driver… how do you think you'd be treated? It's something to think about.

Applauding a healthcare system that's – for once – doing the right thing.