Hospital warns migrants to pay up
Says failure could mean deportation
Susan Carroll
Republic Nogales Bureau
Nov. 29, 2003 12:00 AM
TUCSON - Uninsured immigrants who fail to pay their medical bills are being reported to immigration officials and warned that they could face deportation under a new University Medical Center policy.
This month, hospital workers started calling the federal bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services to turn in "foreign nationals" with delinquent accounts, said Barbara Felix, UMC's international patient service's coordinator. The policy, affecting legal and undocumented immigrants, reflects the growing frustration of hospital administrators along the U.S.-Mexican border saddled with millions of dollars in uncompensated care. UMC alone has incurred $3.3 million in unpaid bills from immigrants since July.
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The message to immigrants is simple, Felix said: "All we're asking is, 'Step up to the plate and assume the responsibility for having received the medical attention that you needed. We're happy to give it to you, but now get with the program and set up a payment plan and stick with it.'
"If you go to Robinson's May or Dillard's and you buy something, you pay for it," she added. "It (medical care) doesn't fall from the sky."
Guadalupe Castillo, a Tucson immigrant advocate, called on UMC to revoke the policy, saying it was "immoral" and "unethical."
"It is the right of all human beings to receive medical care regardless of their citizenship," she said. "That (policy) is saying, 'Don't come to the hospital because if you do, we'll turn you in.' It's frightening."
UMC administrators said patients are given fair warning about defaulting on bills. Before patients are discharged from the hospital, they are asked to set up a payment plan if they are unable to cover the cost of their care, Felix said. Those who do not pledge to pay are referred to collections and given a letter that warns they will be reported to U.S. immigration officials as "public charges."
The form letter warns, "Failure to satisfy your financial obligations with UMC can affect your right to enter or remain in the United States."
Results are uncertain
Felix said she is unsure how many patients have been reported to immigration, or if anyone has been deported as a result. She said it was too early to gauge whether more uninsured immigrants are paying their bills.
Russell Ahr, a spokesman for the Customs and Immigration Services, said Friday that officials in Tucson have received letters from UMC that are included in residency application files regarding the lack of payment. He said that to his knowledge, no one has been deported as a result of the UMC policy.
Felix said many of the "foreign nationals" who default on payments are not undocumented immigrants but Mexican citizens who carry border-crossing cards that allow them to travel into the United States for up to 72 hours. To be approved for "laser visas," as they are often called, the cardholder must have financial ties to Mexico, such as owning property. Felix said some take advantage of the health care in Tucson and return to Mexico without paying.
"We really feel these are not bereft, poor people that are showing up here," she said.
The hospital's decision is the latest in a string of controversies about who should shoulder the cost of immigrants' heath care.
Dennis
