Uh, no, I made it up off the top of my head, on the fly, out of thin air. lol

Is it? :confused: I've never seen that one.

Yeah, not in smaller towns. Certainly not at night.

I agree completely Shaunee123. :D

I completely support the need for changes in the system.

I think it's mostly because the illegal immigration issue has so much of its own baggage that healthcare reform could never get passed if it even touched on the issue, at least in appearances. But if you think about it, I think this plan absolutely will affect the illegal immigrant problem, they just can't talk about that aspect of it without riling everyone up for a totally different debate.

Right now, an illegal goes to the ER to get an antibiotic, the hospital asks for money/insurance, they get little or none, and they may even have a direct admission that the patient is illegal--down here, it's not usually a big secret, because what are they realistically gonna do about it? Hospitals don't call INS, and INS doesn't do anything even when they are called. The only way illegals really ever get reliably deported is if they commit a crime.* And this proposed bill will make it a crime to be without health insurance, and guarantees the hospital will call someone about it. I think it will have a huge effect on illegals, in the long run.


*Yes yes, Merc, they're already committing a crime, but you know what I mean.

Who will the hospitals call?

So we implement healthcare reform and the ER line goes down, except for the illegals -- still an improvement. In terms of health care reform, there are exactly two options open for dealing with illegal immigrants: provide them healthcare as well or turn them away entirely. Guess which of these options no doctor would ever attempt?

To say we shouldn't pass healthcare reform because of illegals is cutting off our nose to spite our face.

I don't think anyone has stated that, only that it needs to be addressed.

To say this suggests that you KNOW for CERTAIN that proposed heath care reform will be successful and beneficial - and you don't. It may be your opinion that it will be - just like it is my concern that over-medication will be on the rise and actual quality of care will suffer. But again, we can't know these things at this point.

To suggest that people shouldn't ask questions and actually try to understand what will happen is doesn't benefit anyone.

Exactly. It's better to screw the 95% of the population out of health care reform even because 5% who are here without papers might get help when they are sick too.

Wrong. Undocumented immigrants don't cost American citizens a single penny when everything is accounted for. They contribute more money into the economy and the tax base than they use in social services. This is an irrefutable fact.

When Americans are visiting the UK and they get hurt, do you know what happens? They get medical care and no bill. Why? Because not giving medical care to someone in need is inhuman and asinine.

The wait for the E.R. wouldn't be so long if everyone could get cheap or free preventative care, but the insurance companies have prevented this so far. Luckily for us, President Obama will make sure a law is passed which will reduce the long wait in emergency rooms and reduce the costs from E.R. visits vs. regular doctor appointments.

There is no illegal immigration issue. There are no illegal immigrants.

Wrong. We have been through this before and I am not going to go through it with you again. The benifits are not directly reimbursed to the hospitals and healthcare providers, if they were it would be a non-issue. The costs for everyone go up for people who have to pay and or have insurance when others who get care get it for free. Market forces at work. This is an irrefutable fact.

Yes, and America does not extend west of the Mississippi, we've been over this.

Take your head out.

http://danoday.com/blog/wp-content/u...HeadInSand.gif