Here's a nice article from the New York Times on the recent announcement by Northridge Hospital Medical Center that they will be closing by December 31.

This follows a recent announcement of the closure of the emergency room at Elastar Community Hospital in East Los Angeles.

Four other emergency rooms have closed in the county in the last two years. The reason given is the high cost of treating uninsured people. The article also states that 70 hospital emergency rooms and trauma centers have closed in California since 1990.

"We're mandated to treat anyone who comes in through those doors, regardless of their ability to pay," Tracey Veal, a spokeswoman for the Northridge hospital, said.

Ms. Veal estimated that the hospital had spent $13 million on so-called charity care in the fiscal year that ended on June 30.

While the New York Times does not exactly specify illegal aliens as the cause, it is quite obvious by these numbers.

"This is definitely cause for alarm," Carol Meyer, director of the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency, said on Friday in an interview.

Ms. Meyer said 30 percent of the nine million people in the county were underinsured or had no medical insurance at all. Statewide, seven million people are uninsured, according to the California Medical Association.

So, lets break these numbers down. 30% of 9 million is about 3.3 million people or nearly half of the 7 million in California that are uninsured, That's just in their county.

While everyones health insurance goes up to cover the uninsured, we get poorer and poorer service. If you pay your insurance on time for coverage for you or your family and there is an emergency you may just end up having to drive an extra 10-15 miles to get to an emergency room. Upon arriving you may be in line behind someone who doesn't pay, but expects the same services you receive.

Something has to be done of course. Illegal aliens receiving this free service should be number one on the list. Preventing illegals from being here in the first place is a law after all. Hospitals should be able to note whether someone is here illegally. The only way to tackle the issues is with full disclosure and good input data. If you don't know the breakdown of why someone is uninsured how can you fix the problem?

The county estimates the cost of providing them with health care is $340 million annually.

Here's a first hand account of the free ride illegals are receiving from Right Side of the Rainbow

The impending collapse of emergency health care

Earlier this year, I had a patient -- an illegal alien from Mexico -- who came to my institution after his discharge from an acute care hospital for treatment of a traumatic injury. Before that, he'd been in the custody of the Texas prison system, following his conviction for a violent offense.

I and my fellow Texans picked up the tab for his incarceration. But the cost of his acute care and subsequent rehabilitation was left uncompensated. I don't know the tally of his bill at the other institution; but at my facility, the average cost of care is $1800 a day. He was with us for 27 days.

Thanks to the diligent Michelle Malkin

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