08/10/2006
08/09/06 — A Roman Catholic Reader Recommends Denting The Church’s Finances
From: Linda Thom
Re: Bryanna Bevens Column: Illegal Immigrants: Equal Medical Care Or Better Medical Care?
As for Bevens' conclusion that the illegal aliens get better health care than she does, I’m sorry to say that she is right.
Medicaid pays for illegal alien emergencies. The word "emergency" is broadly defined but the federal government picks up the child delivery tab. Various states and counties may or may not cover pre- and postnatal care. Car seats and other similar sundries are state or county funded
Emergency Medicaid has been on the books since the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. In the late 1980’s, in California, 25% of all births in the state were to illegal alien mothers and funded by Medicaid. I don’t know what the current alien numbers are but since the 1990 almost half of the California births are to foreign-born women.
In California, those who go to a county facility — mandated by law to provide for anyone who presents himself — are called self-pay patients unless Medicaid covers them.
Patients must fill out financial and personal information. They are charged for services provided. But in reality, although they are called self-pay, they are no-pay patients for the most basic reason — they have no money to pay.
Most are illegal aliens and we pay for them.
On a personal note, I sympathize with Bevens. My baby girl will be 34 on August 14th. What was I thinking about to have a baby in August?
Thom’s 2004 VDARE.COM column about her experiences as a California budget analyst is here. To read Thom’s complete VDARE.COM archive, go here.
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.