Thread: IA Births Top List for Emergency Medicaid Spending

Illegal Immigrant Births Top List For Emergency Medicaid Health Care Spending – Immigration - 1 Percent Of Medicaid Budget


Submitted by Staff on March 13, 2007 - 2:55pm. Current Events | Insurance | Medicare

Dr. Dubard


The vast majority of government-money spent on emergency care for illegal immigrants is used to pay for childbirth and pregnancy related complications for women without insurance. Researchers in North Carolina evaluated the state spending on Medicaid for the years 2001 to 2004.

The researchers said that the cost for emergency care is only 1 percent of their Medicaid budget. Typically both illegal and legal residents do not qualify for Medicaid except for emergency services. The state reimburses the hospitals through Medicaid where the Federal Government does not pay. Federal law excludes reimbursement for illegal and legal immigrants who have been in the U.S. less than five years.

The researchers are concerned that since Medicaid only pays for emergency care, the overall cost to the taxpayer could be more. Dr. Annette DuBard, a research associate at UNC’s Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research says “We’re spending money at the wrong end of care. We can make better use of these health care dollars by increasing access to preventive care, which would alleviate demand for costly emergency care and improve the health of this population.”

Just over 95 percent of all Emergency Medicaid patients were women, 89 percent were between 18 and 40 years old and 93 percent were Hispanic. Over 99 percent of the patients were “undocumented immigrants”. The federal General Accounting Office (GAO) reports that states with high immigration rates, such as North Carolina, have seen a rapid rise in Emergency Medicaid costs.

A small proportion of emergency care was provided for non-childbirth related emergencies. About 83 percent of spending and 91 percent of hospitalizations were the result of childbirth and pregnancy complications. Other reasons for emergency care and subsequent hospitalization include kidney failure, appendicitis and gallbladder disease. Other reasons for hospitalization for patients over the age of 40 included stroke, congestive heart failure and heart attack.

But not all states have the same policy as North Carolina. Many states with established immigrant communities extend full Medicaid benefits (not just emergency medical benefits) to legal immigrants during the five-year eligibility gap, and 11 states provide coverage for undocumented children or pregnant women. North Carolina has only seen recent explosive growth in illegal immigration, up 274 percent in the 1990s.

The researchers say that North Carolina lacks a “safety net” for recent immigrants. DuBard explains that as a result, an immigrant who has suffered a disabling stroke may endure lengthy and expensive hospital stays because hospital staff cannot arrange a discharge plan. Or mothers who develop diabetes during pregnancy may not receive the care they need, and be at higher risk for childbirth complications or infant health problems.

DuBard thinks the system can be fixed. “In light of the extent of Emergency Medicaid spending for pregnancy-related emergencies, and the fact that children born to mothers covered by the program receive full Medicaid, it may cost less to provide full coverage for contraceptive and prenatal care.” Injury prevention initiatives, preventive care and chronic disease management would also help manage growth in Emergency Medicaid expenditures, she added.

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All these stories make me wonder what the government is thinking? All of us legal hard working Americans can barely afford our own expenses, for example... My husband broke his femer in 1997. His medical bills were over $50,000. Between life flight, hospital stay and physical therapy. We had to refinanced our house to pay what insurance did not! My IHC health insurance has a $5,000 deductible for child birth. Thats highway robbery! Enless theres a complication child birth never gets close to that! I have to pay the first $5,000 then they kick in after that. The insurance companies are bleeding the American public dry to cover illegals. When will people wake up! Get mad! Take Action! Take back our government from the criminals! WOW I'm glad I'm an American