Border Hospitals Send Collection Notices Over the Border to Mexico!

CVX · Post by **CVX** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 10:24 pm

Hospitals losing millions from non-paying Mexican Nationals are now sending collections agents across the border.

At University Medical Center, both legal and illegal immigrants racked up $16 million in unpaid bills last year. A huge debt, collection agents are now tracking patients down in Mexico to pay. If patients can't pay, it's written off as charity. If they can afford a payment plan, but refuse, agents inform them the hospital will turn their name over to Immigration and Naturalization and Border Patrol agents.This can hurt their ability to cross back into the U.S. freely. Typically, collection agents only recover 8% of what hospitals are owed.

Marj Sisson, UMC Transition Management, says it's still worth it. She says, "Even if we net back half a million dollars, half a million can do a lot."Hospitals in Bisbee and Yuma are also relying on collection agents to bring back millions of dollars in payments from Mexico.

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=2072050&nav=HMO6P2z3

Tombstone · Post by **Tombstone** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 8:47 am

I think this is great! I'm tired of illegal immigrants using the United States as their quick-stop welfare shop.

Gotten sick and ever had to go to the Emergency Room in Socal, Arizona, or Texas recently? You might as well bring your camping supplies because you will wait for hours and hours to get help.

CVX wrote: Hospitals losing millions from non-paying Mexican Nationals are now sending collections agents across the border.

At University Medical Center, both legal and illegal immigrants racked up $16 million in unpaid bills last year. A huge debt, collection agents are now tracking patients down in Mexico to pay. If patients can't pay, it's written off as charity. If they can afford a payment plan, but refuse, agents inform them the hospital will turn their name over to Immigration and Naturalization and Border Patrol agents.This can hurt their ability to cross back into the U.S. freely. Typically, collection agents only recover 8% of what hospitals are owed.

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=2072050&nav=HMO6P2z3

anastrophe · Post by **anastrophe** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 9:45 am

Gotten sick and ever had to go to the Emergency Room in Socal, Arizona, or Texas recently? You might as well bring your camping supplies because you will wait for hours and hours to get help.

hmm, in 1996 or so - i went to to the emergency room at marin general, in very, *very* affluent marin county, california (north of san francisco), and waited hours and hours to get help. i don't recall seeing any obvious illegal immigrant, but i wasn't paying close attention!

Tombstone · Post by **Tombstone** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 11:59 am

anastrophe wrote: Gotten sick and ever had to go to the Emergency Room in Socal, Arizona, or Texas recently? You might as well bring your camping supplies because you will wait for hours and hours to get help.

hmm, in 1996 or so - i went to to the emergency room at marin general, in very, *very* affluent marin county, california (north of san francisco), and waited hours and hours to get help. i don't recall seeing any obvious illegal immigrant, but i wasn't paying close attention!

You may have been facing the *other big problem we have in this Country: Lack of affordable health care.

If you don't have health insurance, the only option you have is to visit the emergency room. And since folks without insurance let their ailments linger, they usually are forced in when they are in really bad shape.

But that's a whole other topic!

CVX · Post by **CVX** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 6:16 pm

Tombstone wrote: You may have been facing the *other big problem we have in this Country: Lack of affordable health care.

If you don't have health insurance, the only option you have is to visit the emergency room. And since folks without insurance let their ailments linger, they usually are forced in when they are in really bad shape.

But that's a whole other topic!

A whole new topic indeed. Millions of people seeking care but no way to pay. I think we should start a new topic under health care.

CVX · Post by **CVX** » Tue Aug 10, 2004 12:25 am

CVX wrote: A whole new topic indeed. Millions of people seeking care but no way to pay. I think we should start a new topic under health care.

Here is a great article relating to this discussion:

http://www.forumgarden.com/forums/showt ... 60#post360

pattybug52 · Post by **pattybug52** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 3:05 am

my grandson had full insurance-when he got sick last year (1 year old) we took him to closest hospital covered by insurance-they let him scream for hours, never checked him out, I finally went back there and raised Holy Terror! All the drs and nurses were busy eating Christmas Candy, they got 5 ambulance calls in, no one was doing anything-just eating chocolates. When my daughter asked them to examine my grandson for his screaming, dehydration, etc-they told her, "We do not have a pill for screaming!" That was all it took for me-went back there-raised all kinds of hell and they told us, " Sorry we have a dead person in bed number 4", soo I said-"AHH so you could not get to him fast enough either?" So she told us to leave, which I did but not before I informed the ENTIRE waiting room of patients that they killed one patient, and would probably never see a dr for 24 hours! The whole room left! I told them all to go to another hospital. When we took grandson to Childrens Hospital who filed a report against this hospital, along with his pediatrician when we told her. CHOC hospital said had we delayed it another day my grandson would be dead-the hospital upon hearing he had not had a wet diaper in 24 hours was a RED Flag-dehydration-get him on an IV. He was so dehydrated it took 5 times to get an iv started-his blood was clotted.He spent a week in the hospital from the negligence of other hospital. Other hospital has been sued many times since, had a murder there from another incident, hospital still in business.