http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=5687540&nav=9qrx

LOS ANGELES American taxpayers spent only $11 per household in 2000 to foot the bill for the health care of adult illegal immigrants, according to a new study that critics say is a gross underestimate.

Researchers at Rand Corporation said the nation spent $1.1 billion for the health care of illegal immigrants between the ages of 18 and 64. The cost in Los Angeles County was about $204 million.

A different study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform found that California taxpayers alone spent about $1.4 billion on health care for illegal immigrants.

The medical bills of uninsured illegal immigrants became a hot topic this summer, when politicians from Sacramento to Washington argued that people crossing the U-S-Mexico border illegally were poring into American hospitals and forcing taxpayers to cover the costs.