This is off topic, but interesting, I'd  like to add my view of not-american but (legal) immigrant.
I'm Italian, our health system doesn't work so well as European standards because of Mafia, but, is much better than the private American one and cost the country half of the American one. For get rid of the corruption and Mafia clientèle, we copied the American system.
We introduced a pay about how many cure a doctor and a hospital do, they're not paid on a monthly basis anymore. The experiment turned to be catastrophic: doctors and hospital started to do expensive cure and operations where weren't necessary.
That's the American problem: doctors are not paid on a monthly basis, but how many cures and medicine they prescribe. No one controls it, the health insurance companies support it because they'll just ask more money, etc. The cure is an European style health system, public or private, and based on prevention, not on the cure.
The additional cost attributed to illegal immigrants? well, in Europe we have as many illegal immigrants as there is here, but the total cost of health care it's half of the American (pro-capita) and performs much better (see statistics about stroke survivals or infant mortality). Sure there is people from other countries who came here for special cure, there is the best doctors here, but that best is maybe for the 2% richest population?

On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 4:02 PM, Robert Holtzman <holtzm@cox.net> wrote:
On Thu, 30 Jul 2009, keith smith wrote:

>
> So we just let in rapists and those with tuberculosis?

Lok up the wimmen an chilun. The rapists is acomin.

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Bob Holtzman
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 check the price of the beer"
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