Comments about ‘No cash required for treatment at Cache clinic’

Expect them to quadruple if you allow your government to socialize this nations healthcare.

In a day when many so-called "Utah conservatives" are screaming for the eradication of "illegal immigrants" and others who don't fit their idea of a perfect society, this is indeed a refreshing story.

I hope all who have medical and dental and other skills will be inspired by the efforts of these wonderful volunteers. May their blessings for these acts of genuine goodness be uncountable.

Charity care works better than entitlement programs. Charity care is an important component of the 4 Steps to reform health care:

1. Prohibit insurance from paying greater than 80% of actual cost: patients need to have some skin in the game and will dramatically control costs when they are so motivated (actual experience). If the doctor discounts for the patient, the insurance company participates in the discount. Enforce with insurance fraud statutes.

2. Revive charity hospitals: this will give doctors a place to donate care, students to train, and provide for the needy without huge tax based entitlement programs.

3. Tort reform: prohibit any patient who has recieved discounted or free care from suing, and implement a loser pays system.

4. Remove the barriers to increased use of mid level providers such as Physician Assistants; they provide 80% of the care, at the same quality, and for far less money than doctors.

Results: Health Care costs drop like a rock, insurance premiums (including malpractice) become affordable, and access to care increases. Additionally, Medicare/Medicaid fade away, taxes go down, government budgets become reasonable.

I noticed in the article that all of those treated were illegal immigrants. So who foots the bill for the building, drugs, equipment necessary to treat these people? The bill isn't paid by IHC. IHC passes those costs on to legal US citizens in the form of higher medical costs. Don't let IHC's "humanitarian" medical clinic fool you for one minute. When clinics like this take care of the 45 million legal US citizens without medical care, then write another story.

If you really want to be shocked go to some really very poor countries like Sudan, Pakistan, Uganda, Peru, Colombia, Iraq, El Salvador and about 150 other countries that are poorer than Mexico. That is a fact, unfortunately. I saw people in Sudan eating leaves and dirt. A clinic in some of those countries would have millions of clients. Or are we able to only see what is on the block we live on. Alma has what appears to be a wrist watch on. I never saw a person in southern Sudan with a wristwatch. Come on people, show some compassion and send donations to relief agencies in the truly poor countries of the world.

I'm so very happy for these doctors. How wonderful for them to pat themselves on the back for the their noble charity work. Funny, the very next thing they do is go to their regular offices and charge the legal, premium paying folks an arm and a leg and a kidney and a lung for basic medical care. My son recently needed 3 stitches in his forehead. I purchase a private insurance policy for him since it costs less than my employer plan. The charges for his stitches are over $900, so far $300 of which I have paid out of pocket. Since I buy this insurance privately, I can't deduct the premiums from my taxes or have the premium amount withheld before taxes as you can with employer insurance. I'm grateful I'm able to take responsibility for my own, and my child's care. Just please don't insult me by telling me how generous and noble these medical practitioners are. They make it up by charging the paying and insured clients astronomical rates.

Now, thanks to the Deseret News, that clinic is going to be overrun by people looking for free/cheap medical care.

From the time I moved home for the next 20 years my family had insurance only three or four years. We could not afford it the rest of the time. We never had any really serious issues fortunately, but we always paid our own doctor and hospital bills. Now all the sacrifices we made to get me and my wife through college have paid off in that we have medical and dental insurance. Still, the bills are so high that we delay or don't get some of the medical care we need. When my son blew out his knee, the anesthesiologist alone charged $7,000 for a single surgery. We were glad we had insurance, but our share was $1,400. The total surgery was something like $15,000. Every time I go to the emergency room, I see mostly immigrants who are chattering in a Romantic language. So I know why my bills are so high. Still, it's better than socializing medicine.

I think Jesus would tell them to get a job like the rest of us...

What about us that have been citzen's all of our lives and who can not afford health insurance.
They come over to our country and have benifits that we do not have-----something is wrong, big time

Paradox: "What goes around comes around" VERSUS "To accomodate is to be abused". Doing good for someone in need is always a good thing. However, doing good for someone who can do for themselves is a bad thing, that is abuse.

Balance my friends. Even when you are exactly right, you don't have any permission to do wrong.

My combined out of pocket medical bills for the year is over $4,000 and hurting still. Someone in the health system is sure raking in the money.

I wish we could have a more better health care system with a less expensive cost. It's unbelievable that you can have some kind of "better" health care service in such "poor" countries like CUBA, MEXICO, El Salvador, in which the government pays everything (doctors, nurses, treatment, medicines), and here we pay high costs for attention and medicines and please I'm not saying that this Charity Clinics are bad ideas, in fact I have recieved attention from them when I need it the most. It's just because the insurance companies and health care provider institutions helped by the law take the big chunk out of our wallets. There are always big honchos making lots of money out of the lack of knowledge of all of us.