Should dying or critically ill migrants be treated in emergency rooms in the U.S.?

[blackbird]

This seems to be related to the debate in congress now. 

"

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt refused to say whether emergency rooms across the country should check immigration status before treating dying patients.

While speaking to the press on Thursday, Leavitt would not say if the Trump administration supported the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires emergency rooms to treat anyone regardless of citizenship. The question came as Republicans argued that the government was shut down over health care for undocumented immigrants.

"Should ERs check immigration status before treating a dying patient?" a reporter asked.

"That's probably not a question for me to answer," Leavitt replied. "I think that's a question for healthcare professionals and legal access."

"Tens of millions of illegal aliens from all over the world to come into our country," she continued. "And then they allowed those illegals from all over the world to get free benefits."

"And there were higher wait times at hospitals under the Biden administration. We saw these illegals committing crimes all over our country, and they're getting things for free."

As the reporter pressed, Leavitt declined to say that dying immigrants deserved lifesaving treatment.

"I don't speak for emergency rooms across the country," she insisted. "I speak for the president of the United States. And that's what he believes on this policy."

Karoline Leavitt declines to say if emergency rooms should treat dying immigrants

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2025 by blackbird

[gatomontes99]

Yes. And as soon as they are stable, they are sent home with a bill sent to their government.

[Hodad]

Admitting that undocumented immigrants should be treated in ERs/EDs is a tricky question for them. 

On the one hand, saying out loud that men, women and children should just bleed to death in the waiting room of the hospital--or perhaps on the curb outside--will not sit well with decent people anywhere. 

On the other hand, saying that they should be treated tacitly admits that the immigrants are human beings, rather than animals. And that also makes MAGA uncomfortable. 

[Deluge]

2 hours ago, blackbird said:

This seems to be related to the debate in congress now. 

"

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt refused to say whether emergency rooms across the country should check immigration status before treating dying patients.

While speaking to the press on Thursday, Leavitt would not say if the Trump administration supported the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires emergency rooms to treat anyone regardless of citizenship. The question came as Republicans argued that the government was shut down over health care for undocumented immigrants.

"Should ERs check immigration status before treating a dying patient?" a reporter asked.

"That's probably not a question for me to answer," Leavitt replied. "I think that's a question for healthcare professionals and legal access."

"Tens of millions of illegal aliens from all over the world to come into our country," she continued. "And then they allowed those illegals from all over the world to get free benefits."

"And there were higher wait times at hospitals under the Biden administration. We saw these illegals committing crimes all over our country, and they're getting things for free."

As the reporter pressed, Leavitt declined to say that dying immigrants deserved lifesaving treatment.

"I don't speak for emergency rooms across the country," she insisted. "I speak for the president of the United States. And that's what he believes on this policy."

Karoline Leavitt declines to say if emergency rooms should treat dying immigrants

Of course! Stabilize them first, then deport their asses. 

Next stupid question...

[gatomontes99]

1 hour ago, Hodad said:

Admitting that undocumented immigrants should be treated in ERs/EDs is a tricky question for them. 

On the one hand, saying out loud that men, women and children should just bleed to death in the waiting room of the hospital--or perhaps on the curb outside--will not sit well with decent people anywhere. 

On the other hand, saying that they should be treated tacitly admits that the immigrants are human beings, rather than animals. And that also makes MAGA uncomfortable. 

And yet, the first and third replies completely contradict you. When will you realize that all your assumptions are wrong and all your ire is irrational? 

[Deluge]

2 hours ago, Hodad said:

Admitting that undocumented immigrants should be treated in ERs/EDs is a tricky question for them. 

On the one hand, saying out loud that men, women and children should just bleed to death in the waiting room of the hospital--or perhaps on the curb outside--will not sit well with decent people anywhere. 

On the other hand, saying that they should be treated tacitly admits that the immigrants are human beings, rather than animals. And that also makes MAGA uncomfortable. 

Even illegal aliens deserve medical care if it's needed. 

You traitor/sympathizers need to stop crying - that is some really stupid shit. 

Edited October 2, 2025 by Deluge

[User]

7 hours ago, blackbird said:

This seems to be related to the debate in congress now. 

If this is a debate in Congress, why don't you show us that debate then. 

[User]

7 hours ago, Hodad said:

Admitting that undocumented immigrants should be treated in ERs/EDs is a tricky question for them. 

Tell us more about how you can admit that a jail should cooperate with ICE to come pick up an illegal immigrant who was in jail for committing some violent crime or other crime to harm someone about to be released. 

[WestCanMan]

8 hours ago, gatomontes99 said:

Yes. And as soon as they are stable, they are sent home with a bill sent to their government.

A ridiculous bill, but still a bill.

I had a friend who worked for a charter airline called Sunwing, and the BC gov't used to hire their private jets to fly down to the US with a Dr and nurse onboard to bring patients back here, just to save money. 

You have to wonder how much they're being overcharged if it's cheaper to treat a person here even after you add the cost of flying a Dr and a nurse on a round-trip charter flight to Florida.

How much money do you think it costs to rent a private plane use it to fly a Dr and a nurse to Fla and back?  

Edited October 3, 2025 by WestCanMan

[WestCanMan]

8 hours ago, Hodad said:

Admitting that undocumented immigrants should be treated in ERs/EDs is a tricky question for them. 

That makes sense from your POV, because you think like a small person, and only see the view from the end of your own nose. 

You see the US gov't like an endless source of money, and just imagine unlimited hospital capacity for everyone who wants it, but that's not reality. 

Drs and hospitals routinely make decisions on how much treatment they can offer AMERICANS based on the hospital's own limited resources, instead of need. There are lots of times when people need extended care but can't stay in the hospital because there aren't enough beds available. In extreme cases, they even have to decide who to offer treatment to based on their chances of saving them, and letting people go who could have been saved if there was more time and money. 

Now add in the cost of treating tens of thousands of people who aren't even American, and they only have fake ID's, so you can't even say what country to send the bill to... 

If you treat 50,000 foreigners a year and get little or no money back from that, do you think it impacts the quality of treatment that Americans can get? No? Of course you don't. 

Edited October 3, 2025 by WestCanMan

[Michael Hardner]

5 minutes ago, WestCanMan said:

 

If you treat 50,000 foreigners a year and get little or no money back from that, do you think it impacts the quality of treatment that Americans can get? No? Of course you don't. 

Assuming that your numbers are correct, and every single of those people makes a visit... there are 36 million US hospital admissions a year.  So that's 0.1%.

 

Not impactful.

[Legato]

5 minutes ago, Michael Hardner said:

Assuming that your numbers are correct, and every single of those people makes a visit... there are 36 million US hospital admissions a year.  So that's 0.1%.

 

Not impactful.

So $20.000.000.000 of taxpayer money is not impactful?

[User]

24 minutes ago, Michael Hardner said:

Assuming that your numbers are correct, and every single of those people makes a visit... there are 36 million US hospital admissions a year.  So that's 0.1%.

 

Not impactful.

You just went from discussing ER visits to citing hospital admission numbers... 

 

[blackbird]

2 hours ago, User said:

If this is a debate in Congress, why don't you show us that debate then. 

"

President Donald Trump and other high-ranking Republicans claim Democrats forced the government shutdown fight because they want to give free health care to immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

Democrats are trying to extend tax credits that make health insurance premiums more affordable on marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, and reverse Medicaid cuts in Trump’s big bill passed this summer. But immigrants who entered the country illegally are not eligible for either program.

Here’s a closer look at the facts:

CLAIM: Democrats shut down the government because they want to give free health care to immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally.

THE FACTS: This is false. Democrats say they are pushing for the inclusion of key health care provisions in the next congressional spending package. In particular, they are seeking an extension of tax credits that millions of Americans use to buy insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchange and a reversal of Medicaid cuts made in the bill Trump signed into law in July. However, immigrants in the U.S. illegally are not eligible for any federal health care programs, including insurance provided through the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. Hospitals do receive Medicaid reimbursements — which would be reduced under Trump’s bill — for emergency care that they are obligated to provide to people who meet other Medicaid eligibility requirements but do not have an eligible immigration status, according to KFF, a nonprofit health policy research, polling and news organization. This spending accounted for less than 1% of total Medicaid spending between fiscal years 2017 and 2023."

Republicans make false claim about free health care to 'illegal immigrants' | AP News

 

[User]

17 minutes ago, blackbird said:

President Donald Trump

You asked in your thread: Should dying or critically ill migrants be treated in emergency rooms in the U.S.?

You said: "This seems to be related to the debate in congress now."

Then you provide spam that doesn't support this. 

[gatomontes99]

2 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

A ridiculous bill, but still a bill.

I had a friend who worked for a charter airline called Sunwing, and the BC gov't used to hire their private jets to fly down to the US with a Dr and nurse onboard to bring patients back here, just to save money. 

You have to wonder how much they're being overcharged if it's cheaper to treat a person here even after you add the cost of flying a Dr and a nurse on a round-trip charter flight to Florida.

How much money do you think it costs to rent a private plane use it to fly a Dr and a nurse to Fla and back?  

Probably in the $30-45k range. Depends on the size of the aircraft and the services provided and the distance. Vancouver to Miami is 12 hours round trip. $3,000 per hour is kind of low end. 

Edited October 3, 2025 by gatomontes99

[WestCanMan]

13 hours ago, Michael Hardner said:

Assuming that your numbers are correct, and every single of those people makes a visit... there are 36 million US hospital admissions a year.  So that's 0.1%.

Not impactful.

If you and your wife (Im being very generous here) make $200,000 a year and someone steals $200 from you, that's .1%. Not impactful.

Then again, when you make $200K, you pay $60,000 taxes. Someone gets 5 coffees a month at Starbucks. You pay 45k to your mtg. You make car payments. You buy wine, whiskey, weed and beer. You pay for your kids' extracurricular activities. Try to go on a trip or two. Eat at a few restaurants. Buy clothes. Get haircuts. Someone went to the dentist. You're gonna fix your fence this year, next year you're gonna put on a roof. You gotta buy a set of tires. You have a $5k property tax bill. You have to pay the insurance on two cars. You have monthly life insurance. Home insurance. (Go over your budget again, Michael. You spend way too much money)

If someone steals $200 from your wallet tomorrow, is that "not impactful"? You probably won't notice it?

I can promise you that a lot of Canadians who make $200,000 a year could really use an extra $200 bucks today. There are a lot of Canadians in that tax bracket who will be really upset if they find out that someone in the family has an app on their phone that cost $15/mo that they never used all year.

 

There are a lot of Americans who don't have coverage, who would love to be one of 50,000 people who managed to sneak in one hospital visit. Everything matters, Michael. 

[WestCanMan]

12 hours ago, gatomontes99 said:

Probably in the $30-45k range. Depends on the size of the aircraft and the services provided and the distance. Vancouver to Miami is 12 hours round trip. $3,000 per hour is kind of low end. 

I'll keep that in mind if I ever get into the "charter jet" tax bracket lol. 

Edited October 3, 2025 by WestCanMan

[Shady]

[WestCanMan]

1 hour ago, Shady said:

Can one of the cultists here please explain how both of these things can be true?

Wait, I know the answer: "I don wotch CNN, but Fox Noos tells lise." 

See? I got your back, robo. You don't even have to bother answering that now. 

 

But I do have a quick question for you @robosmith: Does this new non-lie lie by Trump still count as "a lie", just because CNN said it was lie? (of course it does) And is it a front-page lie, that cracks the top 3 in the elevator speech, or is it just one of the 300 billion run-if-the-mill non-lies that were counted as lies by serial liars like WashPo, like for example "every time he said that he didn't collude with Russia that counts as a lie"? 

 

I'm hereby putting forth the term "WashPoism" out as consideration for a new word meaning: "A factually truthful statement or trivial inaccuracy which is immediately branded "A HUGE LIE!!!!!!!" by a charter news outlet, and is thereby forever falsely considered to be a monumental and consequential lie by members of that organization's cult."  

[robosmith]

18 hours ago, Legato said:

So $20.000.000.000 of taxpayer money is not impactful?

$20B is Trump change in the Federal budget even if you type out all the zeros.

 

Edited October 3, 2025 by robosmith

[User]

6 minutes ago, robosmith said:

$20B is Trump change in the Federal budget even if you type out all the zeros.

 

And when you say that about every 20B you waste we end up with far more than "trump" change and 40 TRILLION in debt. 

[Hodad]

On 10/2/2025 at 8:54 PM, WestCanMan said:

That makes sense from your POV, because you think like a small person, and only see the view from the end of your own nose. 

You see the US gov't like an endless source of money, and just imagine unlimited hospital capacity for everyone who wants it, but that's not reality. 

Drs and hospitals routinely make decisions on how much treatment they can offer AMERICANS based on the hospital's own limited resources, instead of need. There are lots of times when people need extended care but can't stay in the hospital because there aren't enough beds available. In extreme cases, they even have to decide who to offer treatment to based on their chances of saving them, and letting people go who could have been saved if there was more time and money. 

Now add in the cost of treating tens of thousands of people who aren't even American, and they only have fake ID's, so you can't even say what country to send the bill to... 

If you treat 50,000 foreigners a year and get little or no money back from that, do you think it impacts the quality of treatment that Americans can get? No? Of course you don't. 

No, I put it simply because it's dead simple.

If YOU are a doctor or hospital administrator and a destitute 8-year-old girl from Guatemala stumbles into your ER with internal bleeding you can:

A. Behave like a human, follow the Hippocratic path that has guided doctors for centuries, do the decent thing and save a little girl's life. 

B. Ask for her documents and then, when she has none, act like a goddamn sociopath and calculate the marginal cost increase you'd need to pass on to paying customers if you saved her life--before deciding she should instead go die a minimum of 50 feet from hospital property. 

 

I'm pretty sure you already answered this, and told us exactly who you are.

Edited October 4, 2025 by Hodad

[User]

1 hour ago, Hodad said:

'm pretty sure you already answered this, and told is exactly who you are.

Just like we know exactly who you are as you don't care how many Americans are raped, murdered, harmed, or killed in DUI crashes by illegal immigrants who should have been deported but were released from jail instead. 

[Hodad]

18 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

Can one of the cultists here please explain how both of these things can be true?

  

 

The first one is an article from 2019 about a policy idea to tackle ER overuse. 

The second is a current article talking specifically about Trump's claims regarding Democratic motives in the "government shutdown battle." Claims which are, as usual, entirely false. The Democrats are fighting to extend insurance subsidies for which undocumented illegals are not and never have been eligible. Their position in the shutdown negotiations has nothing to do with healthcare for the undocumented. That's a lie fabricated from whole cloth. Trumpco simply made it up. They are totally confident that their noisy-but-dumb base won't question it or call them on their lies. 

 

And you can't figure out how those two statements couldn't be true in their own respective times? It must be farking tragic to navigate the world without basic critical thinking skills. I assume that's why you haven't figured out that you're the cultist, swallowing whatever nonsense Trump shits out.