About the illegal aliens - Serious question here...

[liberal N proud]

First off, I am not in favor of providing health care for those who have entered our country illegally and are working our jobs.

BUT: If they are not covered, how will cost be reduced? They are here, they will still go to emergency rooms for their medical care and we the taxpayer and the consumers will be stuck with that bill.

How can we exclude these people while reducing the costs?

[Uzybone]

1. They will be treated at emergency rooms as always, and taxpayers will cover that

do you think illegal aliens are the source of most of the healthcare costs we have? Thats RW propaganda.

[liberal N proud]

No not at all

Just know that their presence contributes.

[mmonk]

2. Let them die I suppose. Americans are callous enough.

[DebJ]

5. And let them bring to YOU any contagious diseases...the benefit

of not treating them....

[mmonk]

16. Unfortunately, Americans are short sighted as well as insensitive.

It's embarassing sometimes.

[treestar]

20. Why would you presume it is always that direction?

Maybe they get diseases from Americans?

[Skinner]

3. This issue isn't about reducing costs.

It's about politics.

Illegal immigrants are explicitly excluded from the plan so opponents of reform can't claim that illegal immigrants will benefit from it.

[lob1]

8. Exactly.

[liberal N proud]

9. I know its politics

Its caving to the right

[doc03]

12. You say illegal immigrants are excluded from the plan

that's not exactly true? If they go to an emergency room they must be treated, right? If they don't have insurance the cost has to be paid by someone, right? So we the taxpayers do actually pay their bill, the costs are either passed on to us as higher insurance premiums or the government is reimbursing the hospital for charitable work. So technically we are already paying for their health care and will continue to.

[Kali]

13. yes but that has nothing to do with the reform "plans"

that already occurs - oh and allow me to let you in on a little secret - some of them actually pay their bills.

[doc03]

15. It may not technically have anything to do with the

reform plans but tax dollars are tax dollars they all come from the taxpayers. I have no idea how many pay actually pay their bills, I suppose maybe some do? Do you know, show me some proof, lets see a link.

[treestar]

19. Nothing would change when it came to them, then

We pay now and would continue to.

Unless you just rather they'd die, and you and everyone else have to prove immigration status before getting emergency treatment.

Why are people so hung up on this? It's a small number of people relative to the population and they aren't getting good health care out of it.

Lou Dobbs is an idiot. They aren't responsible for everything.

[MichiganVote]

4. Bill the drug lords of Mexico..otherwise known as their government.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Some years back there was talk of the US and Mexico talking about the

Mexican Government picking up (at least some of the cost) through the Mexican Social Security System. Bush killed those talks, but I would not be too shocked if there are talks renewed.

Of course you'd need these kinds of bilateral agreements with many European countries, where quite a bit of the ilegals come from and of course Canada.

The side agreements of NAFTA would make this fairly easy with Canada and Mexico, if you have an administration willing to play ball, but not all of our ilegals are from Mexico, or Canada for that matter.

[luvspeas]

7. I'm fine with providing healthcare to illegals...

1) France would give us healthcare if we needed it there.
2) The people of this country will be healthier for having done it.
3) It's just the right thing to do and I don't mind paying a little for it.

[liberal N proud]

10. It is the humane thing to do

We send aid all over the world, why would treating them here be any different?

[rurallib]

11. Yet again, a complex issue reduced to a bumper sticker

Some one probably has stats on this, but I am going to bet that many "illegals" have health care through an employer. What to do?
And if an "illegal has a highly contagious disease? Let 'em wander around til they pass it all around? Or should we let them die in the streets?

[abumbyanyothername]

14. Illegal immigrants will soon solve themselves.

Mexican live births per female have dropped from 5.2 to below 2 in a generation.

Pretty soon Americans will be going to Mexico to ease the labor shortage.

[sinkingfeeling]

17. Here's the answers to your questions:

http://nilc.org/immspbs/health/costs-less-than-citz-2009-05-26.pdf

Undocumented immigrants have especially
low medical expenses compared to citizens.
Only 1.3% of all public medical expenditures
in the year 2000 went towards care for
undocumented immigrants

[liberal N proud]

18. In other words, their treatment would be insignificant

Weather in emergency rooms with on health care or under a public option.

All making one of the bitching points from the right go away.

I was unaware of the actual numbers


Thanks

[krispos42]

21. Start throwing illegal employers in jail

When the executives at ConAgra or whereever start being dragged out of conference rooms in cuffs by US Marshals, the employment of illegal immigrants will plumment and many of them will go home.