Immigrant Hospital Care Policy Denounced

Elected officials, members of Elmhurst Hospital administration and leaders of immigrant advocacy groups joined together to denounce a new federal policy requiring hospitals to ask patients about their immigration status if they want compensation for the care of undocumented immigrants. They asserted the proposal would deter undocumented immigrants from seeking medical attention and risk the health of the general population.
The proposal, sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and due to go into effect October 1, grants a total of $1 billion nationally and $12 million for New York State to hospitals willing to ask patients if they are in the country legally. Elmhurst Hospital administrators said they would rather lose the relatively small amount of money they would receive by participating in the program than jeopardize their relationship with patients.
The Queens Health Network rejected the estimated $3 million in federal funding they could receive if they participated in the program, a decision lauded by local lawmakers, including Congressman Joseph Crowley, State Senator John Sabini, Councilwoman Christine Quinn and Councilman John Liu at a press conference hosted by Elmhurst Hospital last Thursday.
"We have a $17 million deficit this year and this two or three million could have helped," said Elmhurst Hospital spokesperson, Dario Centorcelli, but he said it wasnt worth it if it meant undocumented immigrants might be scared away from the emergency room.
Congressman Crowley condemned the CMS proposal as both irresponsible and discriminatory, saying, "When it comes to health care, especially health care for immigrants, Washington and Republicans have been unkind and shortsighted."
CMS could not be reached for comment.
Undocumented immigrants wont be the only ones affected by the new federal policy, according to hospital staff. They warned that if undocumented immigrants became afraid to go to hospitals because of fears the federal government would track them down and deport them, the health of the whole population would be affected.
"The health of the community depends on the health of individuals," said George Alonso, director of the Infectious Disease Unit at Elmhurst Hospital. "TB [tuberculosis] has a prevalence in this area, and it does not distinguish between the residency or citizenship status of people." TB, AIDS and other diseases are already spreading rapidly among low-income immigrant groups in Queens who often live in crowded conditions and are already fearful to enter hospitals and disclose information about themselves.
"This is not a smart health policy, especially when Americans are worried about bio-terrorism," said Health advocacy director of the New York Immigration Coalition, Adam Gurvitch, addressing worries that deadly communicable diseases could spread more rapidly if segments of the population avoided seeking medical treatment.
Children born in the United States to undocumented parents would also be left vulnerable under the new proposal according to critics who spoke at the press conference. "We are talking about children who are citizens," said Nora Chaves, spokesperson of the Latin American Integration Center.
The elected officials present at the press conference said they planned to lobby against the proposal in Washington this fall. Crowley, who fought against the law in Congress, said proponents of the proposal "like to pretend that if you eliminate care for the undocumented, that the issue of undocumented patients will disappear. That is not the case."
E-mail this reporter at sarah@queenscourier.com .