Why doesn't the US file suit in International Court to recover medical expenses of illegal aliens?

Question

America's hospitals are wide open to illegal aliens - they are unable to turn them away when they come in with life threatening illnesses or injury (fine). But these people don't pay the bill and they leave with the hospitals going bankrupt. So why doesn't our government suit the nation of origin for these criminals and make them pay?

Answer 1

I think we should sue the government for "Breach of Contract" they pledged to PROTECT THIS COUNTRY...

Answer 2

Its an interesting proposal that you raise.  There honestly isnt enough documentation for this to work.  Collectively, the US would have to file a seperate case for each individual who did this.  In all, it would end up costing more for us to try to get it back than it would for us to just let it go.  Unfortunately, illegal immigrants do soak up a portion of hospital profits.

I live in Atlanta.  The largest hospital in this metro area, Grady Memorial, has gone completely bankrupt.  It is some $50 mill in debt and a lot of it has to do with indigent (non-paying) care.  A portion of this is from illegals.  But, we should not turn them away because of their origin or how they got here.  Doctors took an oath to treat everyone.  But, I do agree with the idea of tracking people that come into the hospital to find illegals too.  Everyone goes at one point or another in their life.

Answer 3

Pay!  With what?  They all owe us far more than they can ever pay now!    Do you want to run our costs up even more?  How smart is that?

Why not just tell them tough S**t!  American don't get treated as if they have the worth of t**d without insurance so F! the GD illegals!

Answer 4

A country's own laws determine whether it has to provide medical treatment.  A government has no responsibility to cover the private debts of its citizens when abroad.  

When I worked in Canada for a US state, I was covered by Canadian medical at no charge.  They would have charged me Canadian employment taxes but they couldn't under NAFTA.

The international postal system works by letting the senders country charge for the postage.  They do not divy up the proceeds as this would be too complex.

Oh - they don't get unemployment, welfare or any kind of benefit except for emergency medical treatment and elementary education.  

Foreigners pay an average of $100,000 over their lifetime more than they pay in (because of the high income people - those without a high school education cost a net $13,000 each - see the whitehouse.gov website)

Answer 5

People who think we are getting the short end of the stick just don't have any personal experience.

Over my lifetime I have had emergency treatment in France, Russia, Zimbabwe, Canada and Mexico.  Technically, they could have billed me, but the only one that did was a dentist in Ensenada Mexico who opened his office at 11PM on a Sunday and charged me $25 to replace a filling.  

Compare this to the $2000 emergency room fee and $500 my own fire department ambulance charged when my son complained of "shortness of breath" after a high school gym class.

You just don't know how much better other countries' healthcare systems are until you use them yourself.

Answer 6

There is no way for this to stick in international court.  Besides, the Mexican government encourages their people to illegally immigrate, going so far as to distribute information about safe crossing points and where to find water stations in the desert.  I doubt they would pay.  Something like 40-60% of their GDP is money sent back from our country.

My vote is bring home our soldiers and set them up deporting illegals and patrolling our borders.  Shoot first and ask questions later.

EDIT: At bibs (response below)... they may not get Social Security, but they can get unemployment, welfare and free health care, while people like me who cant afford health insurance havent been to the doctor in years because we cant pay for it.  A relative of mine lost her job and finally shelved her prideand tried to get unemployment but was told by a worker that she was the wrong color!  We pay them illegally low wages because they are in the country illegally.  They dont deserve a single penny.  If they dont like getting less than minimum wage then they should haul their butts back across the border to their own country.

Answer 7

In general a Country is not legally responsible fro the medical bills of its citizens even when they are in their own country unless they have national health care. US citizens covered by medicare in the US but our government will not cover medical expenses in foreign countries. It would need some sort of new international agreement to make it possible to collect medical expenses from the country of origin.

Answer 8

They are busy torturing prisoners, I guess.

Answer 9

We are willing to accept their labor without paying them Social Security, Unemployment, and worker's compensation.  We paid them illegally low wages, and now we complain because they received hospital services.  Who are the criminals?

Answer 10

I disagree, Arizona will not get struck down by the Supreme Court.