Letter to the editor: Illegal immigrants should never get free health care

Talk about it

The health care debate has been front page news for quite some time. The emotions unleashed by this debate speak to the concern of all Americans about this subject. We have heard and read about conflicting opinions as to what is in the actual bill. There is one issue that does not seem to be talked about, but is very important. This bill has the potential to eventually put 10 to 20 million illegal aliens on our health rolls. Since the proponents of government-controlled health care maintain that there are 45 to 60 million uninsured in the United States, it means that illegal aliens make up nearly one third of the uninsured, since illegal aliens are counted in the total.

Last year, a 19-year old illegal immigrant received a kidney transplant at a Chicago hospital. The Chicago Tribune said that the transplant operation was paid for by the hospital and he received free medicine during the following year. The hospital was persuaded to include him in a study that provided the free operation and medicine.

In other words, a procedure that costs more than $100,000 was free to someone who is illegally in the U.S. That meant that an American citizen was possibly denied a life saving transplant. With thousands of American citizens waiting for a kidney transplant, what happened in Chicago is an outrage.

It is said that the administration and Congress are going to cut hundreds of billions from Medicare to pay for government health care. If many in Congress get their way, illegal aliens will profit at the expense of senior citizens and others. U.S. citizens will be taxed and deprived of essential services to pay for those who have no right to enter America and no right to stay here.

Pam Younggren

Fargo

Tags: opinion, letter, immigrants, healthcare