Texas Emergency Rooms See Spike in Unpaid Bills

Texas Emergency Rooms See Spike in Unpaid Bills...The number of patients visiting emergency rooms in Texas hospitals and who then do not pay for the services they receive, especially in the border zone, is one of the major problems facing the state health care system....“We know that many of these people who owe money to the hospital are U.S. citizens, but for economic reasons they cannot get up to date with their obligations. it is impossible to determine how many of these patients are illegal aliens, since by law they cannot be asked to reveal their legal status at the time they enter the hospital. Many of the victims of drug-war violence in Juarez – Mexico’s murder capital – are transported to healthcare facilities in El Paso, where they are attended to without regard for their citizenship or their immigration status

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