New York City hospital chief calls for coverage of immigrants

The leader of New York City's public hospital system warned that the healthcare bills in Congress would burden safety net hospitals by failing to provide coverage for uninsured immigrants while also reducing federal payments for indigent care, the New York Times reports. In a conference call with reporters, Alan D. Aviles, president of the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation, called for congressional conferees to lift the existing five-year ban on federal health benefits for legal immigrants.