Frist: Immigration reform bill would help hospitals

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) said he thinks his immigration reform plan could help hospitals in some states save millions by lowering their bill for uncompensated care. Frist's measure, which is one of a number of competing immigration bills under consideration in the Senate, would expedite deportation proceedings for illegal aliens caught within 100 miles of the border. "The people who are slipping through just put an undue stress on the hospitals," Frist said. "The longer they're in this country illegally, the greater burden it places on our hospitals." Critics can be expected to note that any such legislation would presumably also help the Frist family business: Hospital Corporation of America. On the other hand, many Washington insiders doubt that immigration reform has the legs to pass.

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