Pubdate: Tue, 04 Jan 2011 Source: El Paso Times (TX) Copyright: 2011 El Paso Times Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/townhall/ci_14227323 Website: http://www.elpasotimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829 REIMBURSEMENTS: UMC SHOULD GET HELP FROM FEDS University Medical Center continues to play a role in the Mexican drug-driven violence, even though the facility is in El Paso. It's understood that under federal law, the hospital cannot refuse emergency service to anyone on American soil. And it's hardly a surprise that injured survivors on the blood-letting prefer to come to the United States and UMC for treatment of their injuries. Seeking treatment in Juarez can be the equivalent of a death sentence, because hit men don't hesitate to come into hospitals to kill targets being treated. Also, physicians and other medical personnel in Juarez are targets of extortionists and kidnappers. But rendering such services costs money, and when people come across the border -- the border being a federal responsibility -- to be treated, the feds should be covering the bills. UMC CEO Jim Valenti and Dr. Jose Manuel de la Rosa, founding dean of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, said it well in an April 16 letter to President Obama: "Local taxpayers are footing the bill for the consequences of a conflict that is occurring on foreign soil." Even El Paso's congressman, Silvestre Reyes, has been unable to wrest money from the feds. He's tried to get money through border security bills and the Merida Initiative, to no avail. Reyes spokesman Vince Perez said, "This is a problem that other cities in the nation, even along the border, aren't having to deal with." The federal refusal to help where it should isn't surprising. When it comes to border security in general, the government hasn't shouldered its responsibility adequately. Reimbursements for UMC are no exception. According to UMC figures as of Dec. 16, since 2008, the hospital has furnished treatment to the tune of $4.7 million for patients wounded in Mexico and transported to the U.S. and UMC. Reimbursements to the hospital are only $1.2 million. In 2010, UMC saw 64 "victims related to the violence in Mexico." Of those, 52 were U.S. citizens and 12 Mexican citizens. The violence in Mexico doesn't appear to be easing off; indeed, it seems to get worse. And there's no reason to believe that UMC will cease being the destination of choice for many of those wounded in the violence. Paying for this is not the responsibility of El Paso County taxpayers, and there's little hope of receiving payment from health insurance companies. The feds need to step up and assume their rightful responsibility here - -- reimbursing UMC for the treatment of "victims related to the violence in Mexico." - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D