Is Medical Care Free for Illegal Immigrants at the US-Mexico Border?

C’mon; shouldn’t the border patrol see that sick people get help? In fact, they do! The American Customs and Border Protection (CBP) take forty-eight illegal immigrants to the hospital every day. Just walking into the Emergency Room (ER) costs $150, and that’s before charges for lab, x-ray or any treatment. As a former hospital administrator, I had one question: Is medical care free for illegal immigrants at the US-Mexico border?

Vice-President Mike Pence said CBP took 12,000 people for medical care during the last fiscal year. So far, they’re on track to hit 28,000 this year—a base total of $4.2 million. Of course, one expects to see charges added for diagnostic testing and treatment. Keep that calculator powered up. Medical costs aren’t just for the sick in 2019.

 

Well Child Care

Two small children from Guatemala died while in CBP custody. The tragedy prompted a new policy: Every boy and girl who crosses the border must have a physical examination. Sounds reasonable to compassionate adults, right? If only a handful of kids crossed, it might be doable, but the numbers are staggering.

In the month of December alone, 20,000 unaccompanied children illegally crossed the border. Add the kids crossing as part of the 20,000 in the family-unit category, and it’s easy to see the overwhelming challenge.

As a pediatric nurse practitioner, I’d gladly volunteer my services to do well child exams at the border, but CBP would need a small army of PNPs to handle the monthly load. Without one such on-site, volunteer team, someone must transport each child to a medical facility.

The average check-up costs $100, so even without the cost of transportation, the monthly bill to check every child at the border could easily exceed $3,000,000—and that’s for the kids who aren’t sick.

What happens when sickness is discovered at the well child visit?

 

Sick Child Care

Considering the long, treacherous journey from the home country to the border, many children arrive unable to pass the routine standards. A more comprehensive Evaluation is necessary.

Diagnostic tests and treatment increase the bill. Sick enough to need a night in the hospital? Add in another $2000 for that sick boy or girl, assuming the bed isn’t part of a specialized unit. Intensive Care shoots that addition up another $20,000.

There’s an astronomical cost to compassion involving such large numbers of children crossing the border illegally. Do the patients receive a bill, or is medical care free for illegal immigrants at the US-Mexico border?

Are there any assistance programs to help pay the medical bill for the illegal immigrant’s children? What about pregnant ladies? Do the American programs include help for those not yet citizens or documented?

 

Yes! But, hold the applause. Available payment options are rarely implemented.  We desperately need immigration reform to keep the patients around long enough to apply for the aid and pay the bill.

 

Expectant Moms and Newborns

Uncomplicated pregnancy isn’t considered a sickness. In many cultures delivery happens at home with the only cost being the midwife’s fee. All that changes if the lady delivers on the US side of the border.

The CBP agents are required to see that mother and child are seen by medical professionals.

Dr. Danny Villareal, an OB-GYN specialist, has served pregnant ladies in the Rio Grande Valley for thirty-one years. He shared real-life stories to illustrate the current maternity situations and reimbursement challenges for obstetrical care at the Texas-Mexico border.

 

Delivery Only

The most common situation is the pregnant lady who waits until the last days of her pregnancy to rush the border. If she can deliver on US soil, the baby has citizenship, automatically—an anchor baby.

The mother delivers the baby, gets the US birth certificate, and crosses back into Mexico. One assumes the family will migrate to the US at some point in the future. For the present, the only medical care given is at the time of delivery and shortly post-partum.

Vaccinations may be offered to the new little citizen, if the mother doesn’t cross back into Mexico first. The ladies already know there is no legal basis for their asylum application.

Many leave before the final notice that payment for medical services is due. They just came for the birth certificate. Hanging around risks deportation, which could work against them when they do file for the opportunity to enter the US legally with the citizen-child.

Anchor babies often grow up to deliver anchor babies. Dr. Villareal frequently delivers the anchor babies for women he’d delivered as anchor babies decades earlier—sometimes for more than one pregnancy.

Prenatal care and Delivery

The ideal situation for the pregnant illegal immigrant is to slip across the border in the early months of her pregnancy. Dr. Villareal has cared for many young mothers from the first prenatal months through the post-partum period.

The number of prenatal visits, delivery, postpartum checkups, and well-baby care, including vaccinations, make this an expensive option for the illegal immigrant. However if she crosses into Texas, the expectant mother can have her prenatal care paid for by the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP). She can also receive an emergency Medicaid acceptance for the newborn for the first year of life. (Note: Normally, Medicaid is only offered to citizens and legal residents after residing in the US for five years.)

Crisis Delivery

On three occasions in his southern border practice, Dr. Danny has not been on the spot to deliver the baby. Fortunately for mother and baby, the CBP folks receive emergency delivery training.

In each case, the pregnant migrant waited until her labor began to get into the water. She swam across the river. The mother was on the ground, in the middle of delivery, when the CBP agents found her.

Policy dictated mother and baby be taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital for medical care. As is the case for all such precipitous deliveries in unclean conditions, hospital personnel admitted the infant to the intensive care nursery. The mother received care from Dr. Villareal and additional specialists.

The requirement to transport via ambulance, admittance to high-level care units, and many specialists make this the most expensive patient billing. With Mom and baby recovering, slipping back across the border before the bill is issued, there’s really only one answer to the question, “Is medical care free for illegal immigrants at the US-Mexico border?”

Yes, by default.

What about CHIP for the mother and emergency Medicaid for the baby? Wouldn’t that pay the hospital and doctors? Maybe all the border states should adopt the Texas plan. Seems like a reasonable solution for compensation, right?

Not if the patient expects a free ride.

Dr. Villareal explained why the new mothers receive the service but fail to complete the forms. If she receives prenatal care through CHIP and the special Emergency Medicaid card for her infant, she must completely repay the medical bills before applying for citizenship. Mom leaves with baby and no one gets paid.

 

Conclusion

Regardless of mainstream news reports, the illegal immigrants crossing the US-Mexican border do receive the best medical care available to the CBP agents. While the cost of uncompensated services put a strain on hospitals and clinics in the past, the increasing volume of services demanded threatens the facilities’ future.

The medical care may be free to the fleeing immigrants, but the salaries and replenishing of supplies must be absorbed by those offering assistance.

Can America’s Congressional leaders not comprehend the overwhelming challenge it is for facilities to be facing not dozens of unpaying patients, but thousands? If the policy of requiring all children to receive a physical exam after crossing the border holds, that number shoots to tens of thousands.

Where can officials find the licensed medical staff required to perform examinations on enough immigrant kids to fill a large stadium—every month? The massive flow of children illegally crossing into America must stop—for the sake of the youngsters and healthcare facilities trying to help them.

 

Take Action

Yes! The problem is overwhelming. We can help. We’re not just voices crying in the wilderness with zero power to bring change.

The dedicated medical staff working at hospitals need us as much as the children. The uncompensated services sorely burden their abilities to provide care for their own communities.

Together, we can stop this deplorable situation. Let’s get involved in helping the innocent children and struggling medical facilities.

Call and/or write to your Senators and Representatives today. Let them know you want concerted effort made to bring about real immigration reform—now! It’s time to stop dragging their feet.