Immigrants Exploit Our Health Care System…Right?

There’s no easier punching bag in politics today than undocumented immigrants. They can be blamed for any number of problems—including high health care costs. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), for example, insists that “the costs of medical care for immigrants are staggering.”

But a handful of hot-off-the-press reports tell a different story. A just released Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study concludes that while immigrants are indeed “more likely [than American citizens] to rely on emergency rooms or public clinics for health care” the cost of caring for immigrants is much less than alarmists would have you believe.

This conclusion clashes with the widespread conception that emergency rooms around the nation are filled to the brim with Mexicans—all on the dime of the American taxpayer. In fact, a November UCLA study showed that “undocumented immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries are 50 percent less likely than U.S.-born Latinos to use hospital emergency rooms in California,” the state that incurs the most undocumented immigration-related costs. (The lower rate of hospital use is due to the fact that undocumented immigrants tend to be young and healthy. After all, border-crossing is a rough experience).

Of course, it’s not the rate of health care use that has people worried—it’s the cost of use. But a 2006 RAND study concluded that in 2000, health care for undocumented immigrants between 18 and 64 years old cost taxpayers about $11 per household—roughly the price of a cheeseburger in Manhattan.

Part of the reason the price tag is so low is that our health care system does only the bare minimum for undocumented immigrants. The CBO reports that 1986 Medicaid reforms stipulated that immigrants could receive emergency Medicaid for must-have-care situations like childbirth. But “emergency Medicaid covers only those services that are necessary to stabilize a patient; any other services delivered after a patient is stabilized are not covered.” Undocumented immigrants are only assured enough health care to make sure they don’t die; so the costs of emergency Medicaid are very low.

Take the example of Oklahoma, whose legislature passed the most sweeping anti-immigration bill in the nation earlier this year. The bill, which took effect on November 1st, is focused on denying jobs and benefits to undocumented immigrants. Why? Because, as one state legislator put it, thanks to immigration “the land of opportunity is becoming the land of entitlement.” But according to the CBO, in 2006 the Oklahoma Health Care Authority spent .31 percent  (that’s right, less than one-third of one percent) of its budget on emergency Medicaid for undocumented immigrants. And since fiscal year 2003, less than one percent of the individuals served and the dollars spent on Medicaid by the agency have been related to undocumented immigrants—they’re barely making a dent in Oklahoma’s system.

It’s not just Oklahoma and California; according to an American Journal of Public Health study, in 2005, per capita health care expenditures for immigrants were 55 percent lower than for U.S. citizens. And Latino immigrants had the lowest total health expenditures of all: $962 per person, or half those of US-born Latinos ($1,870) and less than one third those of US-born whites ($3,117). Immigrants use less health care than citizens. Period.

Hardliners would say that this is small comfort—any penny spent on health care for undocumented immigrants is a penny wasted. Putting aside humanitarian objections to this claim, you can only argue that point so long as it’s clear immigrants cost more than they contribute. But that’s not the case.

Undocumented immigrants pay taxes. The CBO reports that in 2004, undocumented immigrants in Iowa paid between $45.5 million and $70.9 million in state income and sales taxes and New Mexico collected $69 million in income, property, and sales taxes from undocumented immigrants in 2006. Immigrant payment of sales tax is especially important, because it reimburses state and local governments.

At the national level, a bigger population means a bigger tax base: undocumented immigrants bolster Social Security with a $7 billion subsidy. In fact, the money that undocumented immigrants paid into Social Security in 2004 added up to 10 percent of that year’s surplus, despite the fact that undocumented immigrants only make up three percent of the American population.

Meanwhile undocumented immigrants also pay Medicare payroll taxes, even though they don’t qualify for Medicare.

All in all, the CBO reports that anywhere between 50 and 75 percent of unauthorized immigrants pay federal, state, and local taxes. So 25 to 50 percent don’t. By comparison, an IRS study from earlier this year showed that 16.3 percent of Americans are in non-compliance with their taxes. Admittedly, CBO also suggests that governments haven’t been recouping every dollar they spend on immigrant services through taxes.

But the disparity between immigrants and native tax compliance hardly seems insurmountable. Presumably a more open and transparent immigration system would lead to greater compliance.

To effectively weigh the pros and cons of providing immigrant health care, you also have to consider how much undocumented immigrants contribute to economic growth. A Pew study from last year showed that undocumented immigrants add 600,000 to 700,000 new consumers to the economy every year. Since consumption makes up 70 percent of economic activity in the U.S., this is important (and of course, more consumption means more sales tax revenue). Immigration is also expected to account for one-forth of the Census Bureau’s estimated labor force growth through 2012. Some economic estimates gauge that undocumented immigrants contribute $22 billion, in total, to the economy each year—a number that would increase if they were given the opportunity to become legal.

The bottom line is that undocumented immigrants are giving something back to the nation, whether populist politicians and pundits want to admit it or not. Too often the debate over health care and illegal immigration resembles the welfare queen narrative of the 1980s and 1990s, which depicts  a lazy demographic robbing  hardworking Americans of their money, laughing all the way to the  bank—or in this case, the hospital. But this just isn’t the case. There are costs associated with health care for illegal immigrants; but those costs need to be seen in context.

Care for undocumented immigrants represents a tiny fraction of the nation’s health care burden. They receive minimal care; they pay taxes and contribute to economic growth. When you do the math, it makes a good deal of sense to spend the little that we do—if not more—to keep them healthy.

Comments

[generic viagra]

Reality: allowing open borders is undermining rule of law and mocking the tens of millions of Americans whose families LEGALLY waiting in line for their citizenships for a decade.

[Rick]

Of course, what also wasn't mentioned in this is the fact that these terrible illegals pay lots of taxes when they work (and they come to earn $s) and never collect on them for unemployment, state, county taxes, social security, etc. That totals up to Billions, folks.

If your goal is to vilify some group then of course you don't want to mention this. Ruins a nice myth with ugly facts and who needs that ?

R-

[Niko Karvounis]

Winghunter, those are some politically charged links you offer--though none quite so charged as the Fred Thompson '08 webpage to which your name connects...

[Russ]

I'm not sure how to take the assertion that there is a 75 year minimum for understanding economic outcomes.

---

That was discussed in a Econ PhD seminar that I observed last week, that it takes a long time to authentically review economic issues (e.g. WWI, 1929 crash).

When did you get your PhD in Economics? Where?

Again -- illegal immigrants and their children should feel free to return to their country of origin and legally apply to enter the U.S.

Then they can get U.S. health care -- unless they believe Michael Moore (M.D., University of Google) and his claims about Cuban medicine.

[Winghunter]

A conservative estimate of the support we provide illegal aliens per year is $340 Billion.

The fact of this situation is they had no business jumping in front of the rest of the entire world who wait their turn...years of waiting.

The UCLA study is an absolute joke. They called illegal immigrants to find out how much they used healthcare services?? If I didn't think you were serious I'ld be making a call to get you a stand-up comedian job.
If you wanted the real information you'ld be interviewing the several dozen hospitals who closed their doors in Southern Cal. but, you're not because you're trying to pull a fast one....which you won't.

Numbers USA
www.numbersusa.com

The Heritage Foundation
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Immigration/index.cfm

The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration
http://www.usillegalaliens.com/

Americans For Sovereignty
http://www.americansov.org/info/about_americans_for_sovereignty.html

[Niko Karvounis]

Hi Russ and Marc,

Thanks for your comments. Russ, I'm not sure how to take the assertion that there is a 75 year minimum for understanding economic outcomes. That's an awfully long time, and so many economic issues demand action faster than that with the best information we have at the moment. The argument "we don't know for sure" can be leveled against almost anything.

As the child of legal immigrants, I do understand where you're coming from re: the contrast between illegal and legal citizenship. But the question here is about health care--if these people are here, does it make sense to vilify them for using health care services, in lieu of their taxpaying and economic contributions? Especially when their rate of usage is significantly lower?

Marc, you make great points. I don't actually think that the numbers on immigrant use undermine the importance of preventive care, although I do think that on your second point, I would agree that "more care is not necessarily better care."

I think that because most undocumented immigrants are young and in decent physical shape, they get by today. But this may be a ticking time bomb BECAUSE they are only getting emergency care--as they get older, sicker, and more frail (a problem, especially given that many work in physical labor), we might see a big change in the equation. Use--and cost--might increase a lot, and some of that increase will likely be due to catastrophic care that could've been avoided had there been better health care for undocumented workers.

Here Russ might say that potential future health care costs are reasons why we should expel undocumented immigrants. I tend to think that this effort would be more money/time/effort than it's worth. I also don't think its a good idea to build a whole sector of undocumented worker health care either. Which, I guess, leaves legalization, which would allow for a more comprehensive tax base to help subsidize future health care costs.

But I don't want to go too far down the immigration policy road. The basic point is that we may be shooting ourselves in the foot by skimping on undocumented immigrant health care today.

[Russ]

This is speculative and questionable. Anyone who knows anything about economic analysis knows it takes more than 75 years for conclusive outcomes to be specifically determined.

Reality: allowing open borders is undermining rule of law and mocking the tens of millions of Americans whose families LEGALLY waiting in line for their citizenships for a decade.

Are tax evaders really "undocumented taxpayer-delayers?" Would the writer be happy if the 90% of Americans who oppose open borders decided to withhold tax payments until this Bush-Clinton-Kennedy mess is fixed?

Those who broke the law (and their children) are free to return to their country of origin, anytime. This isn't Mexico, North Korea, or France.

[Dr. Marc Stone]

There are implications here that have nothing to do with immigration:
1) if immigrants are relying on emergency rooms and are getting minimal care, what happened to all the cost savings of preventive care, doing it right the first time, etc.?
2) does this prove that people can get along with a lot less care than what we consider standard?