Health care for illegals: $18.5 billion per year

[SirLinksALot]

SOURCE: AMERICAN THINKER

URL: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/05/healthcare_for_illegals_185_billion_per_year.html

by: By Sierra Rayne

__________________________________

Writing in the Huffington Post, Leah Zallman -- a research scientist at the Institute for Community Health, a primary care doctor at Cambridge Health Alliance, and an instructor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School -- and Steffie Woolhandler -- an internist in the South Bronx, professor at the City University of New York School of Public Health at Hunter College, and lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School -- attempt to take Donald Trump to task for his claims about the health care costs from illegal immigrants:

Throughout the primary season, leading Republican presidential candidates vied over who could bash immigrants the hardest. And they were promising more than border walls. Donald Trump is the most extreme immigrant-blamer; according to his website, "Providing healthcare to illegal immigrants costs us some $11 billion annually. If we were to simply enforce the current immigration laws and restrict the unbridled granting of visas to this country, we could relieve healthcare cost pressures on state and local governments." As with many of Trump's claims, this one is wrong. But unlike some of his other falsehoods, the media has left this one unchallenged.

Well then, now is a good time to challenge it.

The RAND Corporation published a study that calculated health care costs from illegal immigrants for the year 2000:

Of the $430 billion in national medical spending in 2000, native-born residents accounted for 87 percent of the population but for 91.5 percent of the spending. Foreign-born residents, who include undocumented immigrants, accounted for 13 percent of the population but for only 8.5 percent of the spending. Undocumented immigrants -- 3.2 percent of the population -- accounted for only about 1.5 percent of medical costs.

Some basic math reveals that in 2000, illegal immigrants accounted for $6.45 billion of national medical spending.

Since 2000, "national medical spending" has increased by about 162% (i.e., a factor of >2.6), and the share of the U.S. population from illegal immigrants has -- if we take the likely underestimates at face value -- increased to 3.5%.

Consequently, crunching the numbers, we arrive at a projected current annual cost from providing health care to illegal immigrants of $18.5 billion.

Thus, it appears Trump is indeed wrong, as Zallman and Woolhandler claim, just not in the direction they believe. The actual cost of giving illegals health care is likely to be nearly twice as much as Trump's website states.

In other words, the problem is far worse than even the most "radical" Republican views have imagined.

[PoloSec]

Now calculate the cost of diseases brought here by illegals that where previously almost non-existent but now infect, disable and kill scores of legal and natural born Americans.  For all the empty talk of government responsibility to protect Americans there are numerous life threatening epidemics sitting on the edge of full scale outbreaks and the simplest most effective solution to get in front of these pending catastrophes is to end illegal immigration and put the strictest of requirements on legal immigration.

[bob434]

[[Now calculate the cost of diseases brought here by illegals that where previously almost non-existent but now infect, disable and kill scores of legal and natural born Americans.]]

Already been done and the amount comes to between $400 BILLION and $600 BILLION Every Single Year (some doing the calculations have it even higher)- this takes most things into consideration such as lawyer's fees when they commit crimes and do NOT pay for their defense- the pain and suffering of their victims, hospital bills, funeral bills- ongoing therapy for the victims- the cost to incarcerate criminal illegals, all the welfare they get from government- some to the tune of $45,000 per year as they soak the government for everything they can- property destruction, investigator fees as folks are forced to track down who stole their social security numbers and identities- on and on and on it goes- $400 BILLION to $600 BILLION Every Single Year

I will state though that 'impending health crisis' was not figured into these estimates- when they are we are likely going to be over a trillion dollars a year just to pay for the damage and destruction illegals bring to this country

[Fishrrman]

bob434 wrote:
"$400 BILLION to $600 BILLION Every Single Year..."

Faced with costs like that, doesn't it make the construction/manning/maintenance costs of "a wall" seem like a drop in the bucket by comparison...?

[bob434]

even if it cost nearly that to build, it would be just a one time cost- (then much lower maintenance costs from there on out)

[Hoodat]

I remember four years ago when Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said that under his Administration we would stop giving freebies to illegals.  And I also remember Donald Trump calling Romney's plan "mean-spirited".

[bob434]

trump is a liberal Trojan horse- plain and simple- Ted Cruz was exactly right calling trump out for his 'new york values'- because trump is a fraud- a 'say anything, do anything to win the election' fraud out only for himself- I hope I'm wrong- but I believe I'm right- I will however, outr of humility,  eat a brussel sprout IF I'm wrong