Maybe I can fill that one in. I think the announcement that came out last week has been shattering for a lot of us clinicians who work with refugee populations.
It's hard for me to understand the motivations for it, but it seems like it's been presented as a deterrent for people to come. I can't help but see it framed as targeting the Hungarian Roma. They certainly are the largest group of people we're seeing. There is a lot of cardiopulmonary disease in that population, from what I'm seeing, so certainly the health care costs are high.
What's interesting for me with that particular population is that the folks I've seen have arrived with full bags of medications they pour on the counter and a multitude of different diagnoses. I don't think they had struggles getting health care back home, and I can't speak to the quality of health care, but I don't see that as a draw factor for this population.
What I'm worried about, and I know this will happen after the June 30 date...there are people who are diabetics and hypertensives who will stop taking their medication and will end up in emergency rooms, hopefully without horrible outcomes. I don't think the cost savings are going to be as high as the $20 million that's been projected. I think it could be devastating. We have pregnant women in our practice who are going to lose their care. I'm not sure what they'll do. We have kids who are sick in our practice who won't have a place to turn to.