The Non-English Patient.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

Immigration: The flood of illegal aliens coming into the U.S. is forcing the closure of hospitals, spreading previously vanquished disease and threatening America's health care system.

This is the conclusion of a report in the spring 2005 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. Between 1993 and 2003, it notes, some 60 California hospitals closed their doors and another 24 are on the verge of closure largely because of uncompensated medical costs due to the required treatment of any illegal alien who can make it into an emergency room.

While the cost of health care continues to rise along with the number of Americans who lack health insurance, the cost of illegal alien health care is crippling hospitals across the country.

Many illegal aliens are treated for injuries incurred during their illegal entry. Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1985, hospitals are required by law to treat all emergency patients, regardless of financial circumstance, nationality or legal status.

The cost of emergency care for illegal immigrants is enormous. During 2002, 38 Arizona medical centers surveyed by the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association reported losses on foreign-national patients of $153 million.

Typical is the experience of Copper Queen Hospital in Bisbee, Ariz., population 6,000. Chief Executive Officer Jim Dickson says about 15% of his patients are poor Mexican nationals. He was forced to deal with the cost of treating them by laying off 35 of the hospital's 130 employees and eliminating medical services such as the long-term care center. Financial losses at Copper Queen forced the closure of its maternity ward.

University Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital in Tucson that has the only trauma center near the southern Arizona border, will spend an ...