New La Grange, TX Hospital Has $2 Million Deficit Because of Illegal Alien Care
New La Grange, TX Hospital Has $2 Million Deficit Because of Illegal Alien Care
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St. Mark's Hospital, a brand new facility which opened in June of 2005 in La Grange, TX with state-of-the-art facilities, is already running a $2 million deficit due to "indigent care" (read illegal immigrant care). A member of the La Grange Lions Club has told a South Texas News correspondent that hospital administration officials visited the local La Grange Lions Club and reported that the healthcare facility, which features the latest technological advances in x-ray, sonogram and MRI equipment, has the huge funding disparity due to primarily illegal immigrant care and Medicare changes by the government leading to a huge backlog in unpaid bills.
Patients who have come to the hospital report that a new policy requires that copays be paid before elective services are provided even if the patients are insured. If a copay is not submitted, services are denied even to insured patients. However, indigents who go to the Emergency Room (ER) for service cannot be turned away even if the illness is a minor one, like a bad cold or flu. Childbirth and auto wreck incidents also drain the hospitals of revenue when illegals are involved and don't pay. The Federal EMLATA law requires hospitals to treat all emergency room patients whether they can pay or not.
So, while insured, paying customers are turned away for no "copay", illegal immigrants are obtaining essential services at everyone else's expense. Many Americans, even naturalized citizens, are calling for legislation requiring that all patients have to pay for services received. Politicians, seeking votes from the masses of poor, are loathe to listen.
