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Posted: Wednesday, 15 November 2006 3:49PM

The Health Care Cost of Illegal Immigration

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- A new study on the health care costs of illegal immigration found that only a fraction of the expenses are paid for by public funds. The numbers translate to $11 per American household, but critics are calling the report a gross underestimate.

Researchers at Santa Monica’s Rand Corporation found that out of $6 billion in national health care expenses a year, public sources only foot a $1.1 billion bill. The report also found that illegal immigrants tend to be younger and healthier than their legal counterparts, resulting in less use of health services.

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.
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I know the uninsured can't be refused by an emergency room. Uninsured people have no choice but to seek our an ER. They are aren't all illegals. I don't know how many are. I doubt anyone does. The ER doesn't ask them. Hospitals lose money on their ER services. Some hospitals have closed down, some have merely closed their ER.

IMO, the root cause of this is not illegals, but the number of uninsured people in our society. I would guess the ave. number of illegals at an ER is less than 15%. This % will be higher in border states or anywhere there is a greater population of illegals. I don't have a solution, but I think it will get worse.