Discovered an interesting article in the New England Journal of Medicine about healthcare and undocumented immigrants.
The author of the article, a doctor, says “researchers estimated that undocumented adult immigrants, who make up about 3.2% of the population, account for only about 1.5% of U.S. medical costs.”
And while undocumented immigrants account for a little over 3 percent of medical treatment the writer goes on to quote one study that found that annual per capita expenses for health care were 86% lower for uninsured immigrant children than for uninsured U.S.-born children — emergency department expenditures were more than three times as high.
Apparently, all U.S. hospitals must provide emergency care without first asking about income, insurance, or citizenship.
So the question becomes, given that nearly 12 million people are in the U.S. illegally and in a perfect world, some would say they should be legal, should primary or preventative healthcare be easier or less intimidating for non-citizens to access, should these folks only be able to receive emergency care, should they be denied care altogether or do you have another idea?
Obviously, this is a much deeper and much more nuanced topic than the information presented here. If you’d like to read more, you can read the article here.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/6/525
And, if you've found other resources you would like to share, feel free.