Fwd: read this

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> http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/parkland.asp
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> Parkland   Memorial Hospital in Dallas , Texas is a fairly famous
> institution and for a variety of reasons:
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> 1.  John F. Kennedy died there in 1963
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> 2.  Lee Harvey Oswald died there shortly after
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> 3.  Jack Ruby-who killed Oswald, died there a few years later.
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> On  the flip side, Parkland is also home to the second busiest  maternity
> ward in the country with almost 16,000 new babies  arriving each year.
> (That's almost 44 per day---every  day)!
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> A  recent patient survey indicated that 70 percent of the women who  gave
> birth at Parkland in the first three months of 2006 were  illegal immigrants.
> That's 11,200  anchor  babies born  every year just in Dallas !
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> According  to the article, the hospital spent $70.7 million delivering
> 15,938 babies in 2004 but managed to end up with almost $8  million dollars in
> surplus funding. Medicaid kicked in $34.5  million, Dallas County taxpayers
> kicked in $31.3 million and the  feds tossed in another $9.5 million.
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> The  average patient in Parkland in maternity wards is 25 years old,
> married and giving birth to her second child. She  is also an illegal immigrant.
> By  law, pregnant women cannot be denied medical care based on their
> immigration status or ability to pay.
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> OK,  fine. That doesn't mean they should receive better care than
> everyday, middle-class American citizens. But at Parkland  Hospital , they do. "
> Parkland Memorial Hospital has nine  prenatal clinics.  NINE!
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> The  Dallas Morning News article followed a Hispanic woman who was a
> patient at one of the clinics and pregnant with her third  child---her previous
> two were also born at Parkland . Her first  two deliveries were free and the
> Mexican native was grateful  because it would have cost $200  to have them
> in Mexico .  This time, the hospital wants her to pay $10 per visit and $100
> for the delivery but she was unsure if she could come up with  the money.
> Not that it matters, the hospital won't turn her  away. (I wonder why they
> even bother asking at this  point.)
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> "How  long has this been going on? What are the long-term  effects?
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> Well,  another subject of the article was born at Parkland in 1986  shortly
> after her mother entered the US illegally - now she is  having her own
> child there as well. (That's right; she's  technically a US citizen.)
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> These  women receive free prenatal care including medication,  nutrition,
> birthing classes and child care classes. They also  get freebies such as car
> seats, bottles, diapers and  formula.
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> Most  of these things are available to American citizens as well, but  only
> for low-income applicants, and even then, the red tape  involved is almost
> insurmountable.
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> Because  these women are illegal immigrants, they do not have to provide
> any sort of legitimate identification - no proof of income. An  American
> citizen would have to provide a social security number  which would reveal their
> annual income - an illegal immigrant  need only claim to be poor and the
> hospital must take them at  their word.
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> Parkland  Hospital offers indigent care to Dallas County residents who
> earn less than $40,000 per year. (They also have to prove that  they did not
> refuse health coverage at their current job.. Yeah,  the 'free' care is not so
> easy for Americans.)
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> There  are about 140 patients who received roughly $4 million dollars  for
> un-reimbursed medical care. As it turns out, they did not  qualify for free
> treatment because they resided outside of  Dallas County so the hospital is
> going to sue them! Illegal's  get it all free!    But  U. S citizens who
> live outside of Dallas County get sued!   How stupid is this?
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> As  if that isn't annoying enough, the illegal  immigrant patients are
> actually complaining about hospital staff  not speaking Spanish .  In this AP
> story, the author speaks with a woman who is upset  that she had to translate
> comments from the hospital staff into  Spanish for her husband. The doctor
> was trying to explain the  situation to the family and the mother was forced
> to translate  for her husband who only spoke Spanish.
> This was apparently  a great injustice to her.
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> In  an attempt to create a Spanish-speaking staff, Parkland Hospital  is
> now providing incentives in the form of extra pay for  applicants who speak
> Spanish.. Additionally, medical students at  the University of Texas
> Southwestern for which Parkland Hospital  is the training facility will now have a
> Spanish language  requirement added to their already jammed-packed curriculum.
> No  other school in the country boasts such a ridiculous  multi-semester
> (multicultural) requirement.
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> (Sorry  for the length, but this needs wide circulation particularly to
> our "employees"  in Congress .)
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> Remember  that this is about only ONE  hospital  in Dallas , Texas . There
> are many more hospitals across our  country that must also deal with this.
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> PLEASE  SEND THIS TO EVERY U.S. CITIZEN YOU KNOW.
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> If you want to verify the accuracy of this information:
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> http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/parkland.asp
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