Congress OKs Funds to Trauma Centers Stuck With Bills of Migrant Workers

A trauma care bill sponsored by Rep. Bill Lowery (R-San Diego) to provide financial assistance to hospitals burdened by unpaid bills from undocumented workers passed the House this week and was headed to the White House for the President’s signature.

The measure provides $300 million over three years to assist trauma centers that can prove that at least 15% of their trauma costs that are not reimbursed come from such patients.

The measure, first introduced by Lowery in 1989, will probably mark his last complete legislative victory before he retires from office in January after six terms.

The bill passed the House Wednesday on a 358-60 vote and was included in the Alcohol Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administrative Reorganization Act, which had cleared the Senate earlier on a 86-8 vote.

Before being approved, a controversial provision was dropped that would have allowed states to use federal money to provide clean needles to drug users to help prevent the spread of AIDS.

During earlier House debate on the bill, Lowery said, “While undocumented aliens are not the sole reason for the untimely closing and financial problems facing many of our nation’s trauma care centers, these individuals receive approximately 18% of our nation’s uncompensated emergency care.

“If the federal government ever gets around to implementing an effective immigration policy, the costs associated with this bill will decrease significantly.”

The Department of Health Services in San Diego County estimated that in 1990 the county lost about $7.9 million in costs from undocumented workers not reimbursed.

The bill requires that trauma care centers prove that they have made good-faith efforts to recover the costs before applying for federal assistance.

Among the hospitals in San Diego in line to benefit from the measure are Children’s, Mercy, Palomar Medical Center and UC San Diego Medical Center.

Areas in Florida, New York and Illinois also are affected by concentrations of undocumented workers.

Lowery also asked the General Accounting Office to study the impact of undocumented aliens on five trauma care facilities, including Palomar in San Diego, Martin Luther King Hospital in Los Angeles, and hospitals in Texas and New Mexico.