Illegal immigrants cost American taxpayers billions of dollars just to cover medical costs, and politicians and health care professionals across the country are sounding the alarm about the massive debt.
As millions of migrants stream across the U.S.-Mexico border, they take up space in emergency rooms and intensive care units (ICUs), are uninsured and on Medicaid, and rack up exorbitant debts. ing.
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November 2023 report A House Homeland Security Committee report found that a significant portion of the Biden administration’s estimated $451 billion in annual costs related to the immigration crisis will go toward medical costs for undocumented immigrants.
The majority of illegal immigrants do not have insurance, but they are free to rack up debt during long-term hospitalizations. Many people also have access to government benefits, including Medicaid. All illegal immigrants have to do is cross the southern border into California and obtain taxpayer-funded insurance.
Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announces first state program offered free auxiliary medical care Breitbart News reports that it will be applied to undocumented immigrants under the Medi-Cal system in early 2024.
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks with reporters on September 27, 2023 in Simi Valley, California. (Tama Mario/Getty Images)
Ann employee At a hospital in Southern California that I recently talked about. Epoch Epoch Subject to public anonymity Said, “The entire health system is under attack” due to mass immigration.
“Our health systems are under strain, and on top of that you add tuberculosis, COVID-19 and other diseases around the world,” she added.
In the first five months of the current fiscal year alone, Border Patrol agents 902,000 immigrants Breitbart News reports that some people illegally entered the United States between ports of entry.
“Last year saw a new record high for illegal border crossings, with more than 3.2 million people arrested,” the newspaper said. Epoch Epoch I got it.
California’s new program will cost taxpayers more than $4.8 billion, according to Fiscal Burden analysis The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) made the announcement citing data from California Health and Human Services.
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Meanwhile, in the sanctuary city of Denver, Colorado, recent immigrants are leaving the local health care system to deal with more than $10 million in uncompensated costs in 2023, according to Dane Roper, president of the Denver Health Department. That’s what it means.
That huge number is due to the 8,000 undocumented immigrants who conducted about 20,000 medical exams in 2023, CEO Donna Lin told reporters in January.
“The perspective we’ve always tried to emphasize is that by providing health care to a large number of new immigrants who cannot afford it, we are adding to the already large burden of unpaid care,” Roper said. said. Epoch Epoch.
Migrants join a caravan heading to the U.S. border in the community of Arriaga, Chiapas, Mexico, on January 8, 2024. (STRINGER/AFP)
More medical professionals from around the country also complained to the magazine about increased unpaid workloads.
Dr. Robert Trenchell, CEO of Yuma Regional Medical Center in the Arizona border town, said these immigrants cost up to three times the average human resource. .
“Several [illegal] Migrants come with mild illnesses, but many come with serious illnesses,” Trenchell said. Said in 2023 Congressional hearing. “We have immigrant patients who are undergoing dialysis, cardiac catheterization, and some need heart surgery. Many are seriously ill.”
Doctors say many migrants have been in ICU wards for more than 60 days, and the majority of patients are pregnant women who have received substandard or no prenatal care. As a result, more newborns require intensive care.
A pregnant woman from Haiti is helped by her partner (L) and another migrant during labor after crossing from Mexico against the backdrop of the U.S.-Mexico border wall in San Luis, Arizona, May 21, 2022. immigration. (Tama Mario/Getty Images)
“Our reality is this: We provided more than $26 million in uncompensated care to these people in a 12-month period from December 2021 to November 2022,” Trenchell told Congress. told the parliamentarian.
“That is an auditable number. Let me assure you, this is not an approximation. This number comes from a detailed review of unpaid patient bills directly attributable to immigrant patients.” he insisted. “$26 million in free care is not a sustainable business model.”
While progressive leaders in sanctuary jurisdictions continue to ignore the burden on their citizens, some House Republicans are trying to block immigrants’ access to Medicaid.
On January 17, Congressman Richard Hudson (R-North Carolina) and Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) announced: Defend Medicaid laws To “prevent federal taxpayer dollars from being used to administer or provide Medicaid benefits to illegal immigrants.”
“We must stop rewarding lawbreakers at the expense of our most vulnerable citizens,” Hudson wrote to X at the time.
My Protect Medicaid Act would prevent liberal states like California from exploiting loopholes to provide health care to illegal immigrants with taxpayer funds.
We must stop rewarding lawbreakers at the expense of our most vulnerable citizens. https://t.co/9x4IHQdUW6
— Congressman Richard Hudson (@RepRichHudson) January 17, 2024
