PATIENT FIGHTING TEXAS HOSPITAL OVER ACCESS TO SURGERY

The Houston Chronicle reports on a fight between Maria Sanchez, an illegally present Mexican, and the University of Texas Medical Branch hospital in Galveston, Texas. The story describes an increasingly common problem facing hospitals – dealing with patients who are illegally present, uninsured and ineligible for Medicaid. Hospitals are rightfully concerned about their ability to absorb these costs and of all the problems border states complain about regarding illegally present immigrants, hospital costs are one of the more legitimate ones. The federal government does provide some reimbursement funding, but not nearly enough. And with the health care bill excluding illegally present immigrants, the problem is not being addressed by the government. So hospitals and patients are left trying to figure out what to do.