This article from the Washington Post examines the problem of legal and undocumented immigrants showing up in emergency rooms, where hospitals are required by federal law to treat and stabilize them. While the federal government helps subsidize uncompensated care by providing $11 billion through a Medicaid program that assists hospitals with a disproportionate number of low-income patients, it doesn't cover the entire need, the article states. Hospitals often turn to charities for help or pass the cost of uncompensated care along in higher prices to patients who do have insurance, reports the Post.
