# Illegal aliens at the ER **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 11, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084 "2013-05-11T16:13:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/1 "2013-05-11T16:13:37Z")
What happens to illegal aliens when they have to go to the ER? Are they turned in? Or do they give an alias? Do they use fake ID? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/2 "2013-05-11T17:07:59Z")
They get treated and sent a bill like everyone else without insurance. The ER is in the business of healing people. They are not police officers. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/3 "2013-05-11T17:09:35Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > What happens to illegal aliens when they have to go to the ER? Are they turned in? Or do they give an alias? Do they use fake ID? > [@](#): > > The funding – which has been around since the late 1980s and is less than 1 percent of the cost of Medicaid – underscores the political and practical challenges of refusing to cover an entire class of people. **Congress approved the program after lawmakers required hospitals to screen and stabilize all emergency patients regardless of their insurance or citizenship status**. > > … > > “We can’t turn them away,” said Joanne Aquilina, the chief financial officer of Bethesda Healthcare System in Boynton Beach, Fla., which sees many illegal immigrants because of its proximity to farms where they harvest sugarcane and other seasonal crops. Bolding mine. [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/02/how-undocumented-immigrants-sometimes-receive-medicaid-treatment.html](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/02/how-undocumented-immigrants-sometimes-receive-medicaid-treatment.html) The article goes on: > [@](#): > > The definition of emergency care and the scope of services available through the Medicaid programs vary by state. For example, in New York, Emergency Medicaid may be used to provide chemotherapy and radiation therapy to illegal immigrants. In New York, California and North Carolina, it may be used to provide outpatient dialysis to undocumented patients. > > Other states have tried to narrow the definition of “emergency” to limit what’s covered. “Each state has its own interpretation,” said Jane Perkins, the legal director of the National Health Law Program, which advocates for the working poor. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/4 "2013-05-11T17:20:14Z")
Uh, … [Hundreds Of Illegal Immigrants Are Being Deported By U.S. Hospitals](http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/259549.php). Medical News Today, April 24, 2013. [U.S. Hospitals Quietly Deport Hundreds Of Undocumented Immigrants](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/23/us-hospitals-deportation-immigrants_n_3139272.html). Huffington Post, April 23, 2013. [Report: U.S. hospitals deported hundreds of immigrants](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57580905/report-u.s-hospitals-deported-hundreds-of-immigrants/). CBS News, April 23, 2013. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/5 "2013-05-11T17:34:09Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Uh, … > > [Hundreds Of Illegal Immigrants Are Being Deported By U.S. Hospitals](http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/259549.php). Medical News Today, April 24, 2013. > > [U.S. Hospitals Quietly Deport Hundreds Of Undocumented Immigrants](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/23/us-hospitals-deportation-immigrants_n_3139272.html). Huffington Post, April 23, 2013. > > [Report: U.S. hospitals deported hundreds of immigrants](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57580905/report-u.s-hospitals-deported-hundreds-of-immigrants/). CBS News, April 23, 2013. And how many of those were from the ER? I’m going to hazard a guess, since I haven’t seen the raw data, but it’s probably zero. Those are sick and/or injured inpatients who are being sent back to their home country. I can’t even fathom how that would happen from the ER. It’s not like we have a vacuum tube that we can shove these patients in and have them whisked off to Guatemala. It would takes days to arrange such a transfer, legal or not. Other than that, yes EMTALA requires us to screen and stabilize these patients regardless of their ability to pay or their immigration status. In practice, we just don’t care and don’t ask. They all get treated the same way. It’s rare that I have any clue as to a patient’s immigration or insurance status. USCDiver, MD ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/6 "2013-05-11T20:14:16Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > And how many of those were from the ER? I’m going to hazard a guess, since I haven’t seen the raw data, but it’s probably zero. Those are sick and/or injured inpatients who are being sent back to their home country. I didn’t read all of the articles, but the 3rd article makes that exact point: > [@](#): > > Hospitals are legally mandated to care for all patients who need emergency treatment, regardless of citizenship status or ability to pay. But once a patient is stabilized, that funding ceases, along with the requirement to provide care. Note that the last sentence is true regardless of citizenship status. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/7 "2013-05-11T21:02:00Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > In practice, we just don’t care and don’t ask. They all get treated the same way. It’s rare that I have any clue as to a patient’s immigration or insurance status. > > USCDiver, MD Same in my ER. ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/8 "2013-05-11T21:37:08Z")
Back to the original question…they get excellent service and we pay the bill. Don’t see why we don’t simply take oil in trade. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/9 "2013-05-11T21:41:37Z")
They’re told…first, phone home. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/10 "2013-05-11T22:39:59Z")
> [@SanDiegoTim](#): > > Back to the original question…they get excellent service and we pay the bill. Don’t see why we don’t simply take oil in trade. WTF??? ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/11 "2013-05-11T23:50:10Z")
WTF? The U. S. purchases significant quantities of oil from Mexico. Should not Mexico take some responsibility for its citizens? Assuming they should, trading their oil for our medical services seems perfectly logical to me. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/12 "2013-05-12T00:31:58Z")
> [@SanDiegoTim](#): > > WTF? > > The U. S. purchases significant quantities of oil from Mexico. Should not Mexico take some responsibility for its citizens? Assuming they should, trading their oil for our medical services seems perfectly logical to me. By this same logic we should force all Americans to purchase health insurance. Shouldn’t the US government force its citizens to be responsible and quite being a burdan on. And if they don’t have home insurance let there house burn. Screw my fellow irresponsible man; Iif we want to claim to be one nation under God and a good Christian country we sbould act like it. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/13 "2013-05-12T00:32:22Z")
Ignoring for a moment that not all illegals are from Mexico, why would any country be responsible for the health care of its citizens abroad? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/14 "2013-05-12T00:41:08Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > And how many of those were from the ER? I’m going to hazard a guess, since I haven’t seen the raw data, but it’s probably zero. Those are sick and/or injured inpatients who are being sent back to their home country. I can’t even fathom how that would happen from the ER. It’s not like we have a vacuum tube that we can shove these patients in and have them whisked off to Guatemala. It would takes days to arrange such a transfer, legal or not. > > Other than that, yes EMTALA requires us to screen and stabilize these patients regardless of their ability to pay or their immigration status. In practice, we just don’t care and don’t ask. They all get treated the same way. It’s rare that I have any clue as to a patient’s immigration or insurance status. > > USCDiver, MD True, the articles don’t say they’re being deported directly from the ER. – The ER would keep them, I suppose, until they are stable enough to be removed from the ER, and THEN deport them. The articles DO say that these deportations are being done illegally, _privately_ by the hospitals, and NOT via any official or government or legal channels. The hospitals are simply loading them onto private chartered jets and sending them to facilities in their own countries, at the hospitals’ expense, which they judge to be cheaper than actually providing any further treatment. The articles tell of cases where this is done while patients are comatose or otherwise unconscious. The hospitals are in a bind, to be sure. These are going to be very expensive patients, and it’s not clear at all if the hospitals have _any_ chance of getting paid for a lot of them. According to these articles, under PPACA (“Obamacare”), the hospitals may lose some substantial portion of the Medicaid coverage that had been paying. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/15 "2013-05-12T01:10:09Z")
My point is that the ER isn’t deporting anyone. The sick and injured patients are being admitted to an inpatient unit and then transported to their home country. I’m not saying this practice isn’t deplorable, but the OP asked specifically about illegals getting care in the ER. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/16 "2013-05-12T01:59:00Z")
> [@SanDiegoTim](#): > > Back to the original question…they get excellent service and we pay the bill. Don’t see why we don’t simply take oil in trade. I have a co-worker who formerly did billing for the busiest ER in Houston. She said most ER bills _are_ paid. And I don’t know that the unpaid bills skew “illegal”–we’ve got plenty of poor native born Americans… ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-aliens-at-the-er/658084/17 "2013-05-12T02:51:59Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > I have a co-worker who formerly did billing for the busiest ER in Houston. She said most ER bills _are_ paid. And I don’t know that the unpaid bills skew “illegal”–we’ve got plenty of poor native born Americans… Yes, most people in the US do have insurance. In most of the ERs I’ve worked in, uninsured or “self pay” patients are around 25% of all the patients seen. There were approximately 130million total ER visits in the US in 2011, so about 43 million visits were for uninsured patients.