Today at a meeting of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors meeting we considered eliminating benefits for undocumented residents of Yolo County. We are one of maybe ten counties in the state that provide these benefits.
At our next meeting I would expect that at least three votes will be cast in favor of eliminating these services. Many of you are probably cheering about this.
In the end I will likely (my mind is always open until the final votes are cast) be one of the votes to make this policy change because it is in the best interests of the county. Here is the rub. I actually believe that with the law requiring emergency rooms to serve everyone that walks in the door the taxpayers of Yolo County will end up paying more under this new policy.
As a County Supervisor I am watching out for the best interest of the Yolo County taxpayer in isolation. However, when you consider that the person that comes in for an indigent care visit with a cut that can be quickly treated today but instead will wait to come in on Saturday when it is infected and in need of emergency care — this is not a good thing for the people that will end up paying the bills. Those bills will be paid with the increased insurance premiums that I pay at my business for health care.
I realize that many of you will argue that people here illegally should not get any services from local government no matter what. I get it and understand your argument. My counter to that is that we all end up paying more later as a result of federal laws that require hospitals to treat anyone that walks in the door needing emergency care.
In Yolo County we will save $1.5 million dollars next year by cutting this program. However, I believe we will pay for this by seeing increases waits in the emergency room if I need to talk in one of my kids, increases in health care premiums, and a straight shift of cost from the county to the hospitals that will be forced to eat the costs of treating these patients in emergency rooms.