How many undocumented immigrants getting hospital care in Florida? Data may surprise youSouthwest Florida hospitals provided nearly $52 million in medical care in the second half of 2023 to undocumented immigrants, according to data collected by state authorities.
Lee County’s share of the tab was $42.9 million while Collier County hospitals provided $8.7 million in care to undocumented immigrants.
Hospitals statewide provided $566 million in medical services with Miami-Dade County accounting for nearly $232 million of the total, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
The figures come from a “Hospital Patient Immigration Status” dashboard that the state agency created to track how many undocumented immigrants are getting medical care at Florida hospitals.
Statewide there were 40,303 emergency room visits involving undocumented immigrants and another 54,443 admissions during the six-month period.
That came to 0.83% of all emergency room visits statewide and 0.82% of hospital visits.
Under a broad immigration bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that went into effect July 1, hospitals that accept Medicaid are required to ask patients their legal status at admission or in the emergency room.
DeSantis has steadily criticized President Joe Biden for not controlling the influx of undocumented immigrants through the southern border, criticism he has continued despite ending in January his bid for the Republican nomination for president.
Two weeks ago the governor signed three bills into law that he said are designed to protect Floridians from undocumented immigrants.
The laws increase penalties for driving without a license, increase penalties for unlawful re-entry in the country if there was a prior criminal conviction, and the third prevents counties and cities from accepting identification documents of individuals who are unlawfully in the U.S. that were issued by other jurisdictions.................
https://www.news-press.com/story/news/local/2024/03/29/undocumented-immigrants-ran-up-566-million-in-hospital-charges-in-fla/73095539007/
