Can you afford to get hurt here?

Eight years ago, Luis Alberto Jimenez, an illegal alien, was severely and permanently injured in an automobile accident in Florida. He was taken to a community hospital which kept him as a ward for years because they could not find a rehabilitation center that would accept an uninsured patient. The hospital racked up costs on Mr. Jimenez of $1.5 million dollars. Of course, that cost was passed on to people like you and me who live here legally, pay taxes, and buy health and accident insurance.

Finally, the hospital took action. They got a state court order, leased an air ambulance for $30,000, and took Mr. Jimenez back to his native Guatemala. An appeals court said, "No can do," but by that time Mr. Jimenez was gone. Though American hospitals are required by federal regulation to arrange post-hospital care for patients who need it, more and more of them are repatriating illegals. The problem, they say, is that Medicaid does not cover long-term care for illegal aliens. Why should it? When it comes to being here illegally, the federal regulation shouldn't apply -- that's for American citizens and those immigrants who have a legal status here.

While I am sorry for Mr. Jimenez's plight, it is a result of his own poor choice. He chose to come here illegally. If his were the only case of this sort, I would say that we need to take pity on that man and take care of him. But you multiply his situation by the thousands of illegal aliens in this country, and I don't think it's an expense we can take on. Many of our own countrymen are struggling to take care of their own medical needs -- there's simply nothing left over for those who have no regard for our laws. So if you risk coming here illegally, you should realize that you are also assuming the risk of being sent home should you become catastrophically sick or injured. We simply can't afford to take care of you.

"Sending the sick home." The Dallas Morning News; August 3, 2008; p. 9A.