Credit Checks for Care

A close friend of mine back home in New Jersey is recuperating from an emergency liver transplant. It's got me thinking of my own situation--unemployed with no health care plan. I'm also wondering, in light of recent events with the healthcare system here in Johnston County , if I became so ill here would I receive the level of extended care needed to keep me alive? Have we entered an era of credit checks for care?
I ask because, Johnston Health, currently operating at or close to the red, is now running credit checks on patients to gauge how likely the facility is to get paid for their services. While credit checks are nothing new, I thought hospitals' main goal is to heal what ails you.
So does the standard of care here in Johnston County become diminished (apparently you still get treatment even with bad credit) if you don't have the means to pay? And if not, why bother with the credit checks?
My friend's journey to the transplant list goes like this: she went to her local urgent care center where medical personnel couldn't believe she was still walking, let alone driving. Next she went to the local emergency room. Initially she was given the usual level of scorn and disdain for the gall of showing up to this facility seeking treatment, but was eventually admitted. Upon closer inspection of her health care plan, doctors began coming out of the woodwork and even going so far as to call in colleagues from their practice; and running lots of tests. Thank God for those Cadillac benefits!
My friend was then sent up to New York University Medical Center to receive her actual transplant.
So if I find myself in the emergency room here in Johnston County, do I tell you my social security number first or what ails me?

NJ Slayings Underscore Need for Immigration Reform

The decision by a New Jersey Superior Court judge has once again pointed a spotlight on our need to greater control our borders against illegal immigrants. On Thursday, November 4, 2010, Melvin Jovel, 21, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, was sentenced to life in prison for the slayings of three New Jersey teenagers and the attempted murder of a fourth. Jovel received three consecutive life sentences in prison.
Jovel, and five other men, according to prosecutors, lined up the victims against a wall in Newark, NJ and shot each in the back of the head. All of the victims attended or planned to attend Delaware State University.
Jovel, according to newspaper reports, expressed no remorse as he addressed the court in Spanish. The lone surviving victim, angry at first, then calm, told Jovel he inspired her to inspire others to be closer to God.
What angers me most about this story is that Jovel has been allowed to live in this country illegally for most of his life. He has mooched off of the NJ school system and all of the resources at the teachers disposal --even more so since he didn't speak English--to prepare him to someday become a productive member of society. Then as if he hasn't taken enough from the state, Jovel, with the help of his friends, arbitrarily decided to take the life of three of New Jersey's brightest stars. Now the mooching continues as he gets to sit in prison for the rest of his life receiving three hot meals a day and a warm bed at night.
My final complaint is this: when will we decide to stop allowing illegal immigrants to cross our borders and snub their noses at our culture (he doesn't speak English) and our sense of right and wrong?