AZ may require hospitals to check status of immigrants.......

[Lunar]

Guys, it is just wrong to deny medical care, at least for something serious, to persons, legal or not, who need it (subject to the same rationing regime as everyone else who can't pay would be subject to). Sorry. Same with denying secondary education to minors who are illegal - that's wrong too. How one could live with one's conscience doing anything else escapes me - it really does.

^^^^

It'd be cheaper if we let all of our prisoners die too.  Instead we provide free medical care because that's what's moral.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

LOL. Even I count Catholics as Christian.

[Torie]

Catholics aren't Christians. Is that Oklahoma logic there?

You'd be surprised how many people consider the two completely different.

Are those the same people that are likely to identify themselves as "American" in the Census?

No, those tend to be folks from Sam Spade's clan - the Scotch-Irish - concentrated in the South and Appalachia but elsewhere as well - the folks who were encouraged to come to America with their guns to head out to the frontier and "pacify" the place from the Native Americans.  And today, I would bet you dollars to donuts that a disproportionate percentage of our military are Scotch Irish. They tend to still like guns.

[King]

Next year, grocery store checkout lines.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

One embarrassing thing about Canada is the percentage who put down "Canadian" on their census for ethnicity. It's far higher than "American" here.

[Lief 🗽]

Obviously this is morally repugnant. And if you disagree, your worldview is so radically removed from mine that we might as well be a different species.

[Platypus]

In related news, the Mexican state of Baja California Norte will no longer treat citizens of the US in public hospitals.

[exopolitician]

Why is Arizona is turning into such a fail state?

[RI]

They aren't our citizens ; shouldn't be our problems...

And you claim to be a Christian?

I have yet to state anywhere I am a christian. I am Catholic.

Also, I do care about every human being but this is ridiculous. They shouldn't be here.

LOL. Some Catholic you are.

[bullmoose88]

INSERTUSERNAME needed a change in drawers.

[courts]

Guys, it is just wrong to deny medical care, at least for something serious, to persons, legal or not, who need it (subject to the same rationing regime as everyone else who can't pay would be subject to). Sorry. Same with denying secondary education to minors who are illegal - that's wrong too. How one could live with one's conscience doing anything else escapes me - it really does.

If people want to voluntarily help them out they should be allowed but that's the key word, rationing (or prioritization if you prefer). Hospitals are already strained paying for uninsured americans as it is under EMTLA guidelines and I totally support national healthcare for that reason and others, but this is a different issue entirely.

[Guderian]

Catholics aren't Christians. Is that Oklahoma logic there?

You'd be surprised how many people consider the two completely different.

Are those the same people that are likely to identify themselves as "American" in the Census?

Those are the people that think dinosaurs are a Papal fabrication.

[Holmes]

What about tourists from other countries? If they require medical assistance, would they go through the same situation?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

What about tourists from other countries? If they require medical assistance, would they go through the same situation?

They'll have passports and other documentation, but yes, I'm sure there's no exceptions anticipated.

[ag]

Good. I hope they get a few nice, old-fashioned infectious disease outbreaks because people stop vaccinating their kids in fear. Nothing like a good deadly epidemic to balance the budget: you can save on closing the schools for a few months. Also, lower life-expectancy will do miracles of the pension plans.

[CARLHAYDEN]

If illegal, do you just roll the gurney out of the hospital, and dump the patient on skid row, or what? That actually happened per a news story in LA once - sort of. A hospital found out that a patient had no insurance and was broke, so they "released" the patient too early, and drove the patient to skid row, and shoved him out the door - in a wheel chair. That action was not well received - at all. Lawsuits of course ensued.  Who knew?

Or do you care for patient, and when it is appropriate to release, release the patient in the ICE, who puts the guy on a bus down to TJ?  What is going on in the minds of the AZ legislature one wonders.

Why don't you pay for the illegal aliens?

You love illegal aliens, as long as some-one else pays for their costs.

[ag]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

My Pentecostal maid agress w/ you. For her, Catholics are not Christians, they are "Guadalupanos". That's how I will refer to you in the future ))

[Brittain33]

This is what pretty much every first-world country besides the US does (one reason why their healthcare costs are lower).

Where do you get your information?

When I was 20, I walked into French hospitals a couple of times with minor injuries and was treated for free.

England too, actually.

[Torie]

If illegal, do you just roll the gurney out of the hospital, and dump the patient on skid row, or what? That actually happened per a news story in LA once - sort of. A hospital found out that a patient had no insurance and was broke, so they "released" the patient too early, and drove the patient to skid row, and shoved him out the door - in a wheel chair. That action was not well received - at all. Lawsuits of course ensued.  Who knew?

Or do you care for patient, and when it is appropriate to release, release the patient in the ICE, who puts the guy on a bus down to TJ?  What is going on in the minds of the AZ legislature one wonders.

Why don't you pay for the illegal aliens?

You love illegal aliens, as long as some-one else pays for their costs.

I pay taxes buddy.

[phk]

I would be fine with treating them out of pocket assuming they are broke and have no form of insurance even back in their home country.

But only under the condition they go back to their home country.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

are hospitals arms of the state now, to be used as auxiliary police stations?

[Mexino Vote]

Well It seems I've Sarah Palin'd myself in this thread...

[angus]

Enjoy!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110214/ap_on_re_us/us_immigrants_hospitals

Interesting article, but few details.  

It may have the effect of deterring undocumented aliens from seeking medical attention.  To be very cynical, we could suppose that this is the point, since it would lower the amount Arizona pays for their welfare.

It may also be that they want the hospitals to detain the aliens after treating them so that someone can pick them up and deliver them to la migra.  Or that they want them to just do the checking and then make a call to have them picked up.  Either way, this would almost certainly affect the workload and the efficiency of the medical service workers.  And increase waiting times for everyone.

At this point it's just a suggestion from a state senate judiciary meeting, so it's difficult to gauge the intent or the effect of such a law, but it seems like a bad idea to me.

[Iosif]

This is what pretty much every first-world country besides the US does (one reason why their healthcare costs are lower).

Where do you get your information?

When I was 20, I walked into French hospitals a couple of times with minor injuries and was treated for free.

England too, actually.

The way it should be.

Cut the military in half. Get rid of Medicare and Medicaid. Use the money to fund a national health service. Simple.

The NHS is the greatest social invention in the history of mankind. It's a beautiful organisation.

Nobody sane argues that a basic education shouldn't be free and accessible to all. Why is health care any different?

It's a disgrace that in a country as wealthy as America your access to health care is determined by the size of your wallet and the level of your employment.

[Franzl]

The NHS is the greatest social invention in the history of mankind. It's a beautiful organisation.

Nobody sane argues that a basic education shouldn't be free and accessible to all. Why is health care any different?

Well for one thing, schools aren't operated as centralized as something like the NHS is. If someone is unhappy with schools in the City of Chicago, he's perfectly free to move to a suburb or wherever else he believes his kids will be properly educated. (Or pay for a private school or homeschool in some counties.)

A national single payer system such as the NHS eliminates competition entirely, makes its citizens dependent on government policy for their healthcare, and objectively produces worse results than a lot of other healthcare systems that are just as universal.

There's no contradiction in supporting universal access to healthcare and opposing a massive government institution like the NHS.