JAMA says Ilegals don't cost medicaid much afterall; does that change your opinion?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070313/hl_nm/immigrants_dc_3

Read the article before commenting, please!

Medicare is for senior citizens... Medicaid has been around for decades and serves our country's poor.

Answer 1

If you think about it, this makes perfect sense. Anyone with even the slightest idea of what life is like outside of the US realizes there is (in comparison) no "free lunch" in the US. People don't come here without a strong desire to succeed.

This doesn't make it any "less wrong" to come here illegally (especially when some have to jump through so many hoops to do it legally), but it does eliminate another "financial" argument. Perhaps changes are needed to the immigration process?

Another "underlooked" fact about immigrants (legal ones) is that they are about 8 times more likely to become millionaires than native-born Americans....

What both of these things suggest is that immigrants are much more appreciative of America than most Americans!

Answer 2

It is propaganda. As the other poster stated:


"What the article does not cover is the costs placed upon hospitals by illegals who come here with no insurance, don't pay taxes and get free care which the rest of us have to pay for. The report admitted that it was only looking at Medicaid. I hope people will see this report for what it is - a poor attempt at spinning a losing situation. "

Answer 3

People who actually THINK and READ already know this....it is only the uneducated and undereducated boobs who buy in to all the crapola on shock TV, conservative talk radio, tabloids, rumors, Faux news ever believed it.

Some people would like to blame ALL of our countries problems on someone else; in this case the "illegal immigrants" instead of putting it squarely where it belongs....the ignorant man in the White House and the do-nothing Republican Congress we've had for the last 6 years.

There are over 43 MILLION Americans without health care insurance.....because they can't afford the premiums.......so medicaid picks up the bill or the hospitals just eat the cost of their care and raise the cost to the rest of us. This isn't an immigrant problem - this one is home grown.

Answer 4

Just because they don't cost medicaid much does NOT mean that they are not costing this nation money.

Just say for the sake of argument that each Illegal only us $100 each per year and there are 20 million illegals. That is $2BILLION in health care per year. The problem is they cost us FAR more that that each year.

The article also claims that illegals aren't eligible for medicaid when they have been in the country for less than 5 years.

How on earth is an ILLEGAL EVER eligible for Medicaid? How are CRIMINALS entitled to care that other US citizens don't receive? Why do we keep rewarding criminals?

This article is nothing more that PRO-illegal propoganda. If you even scratch the surface of this article you see it's misleading information meant to try to make illegals appear to be a benefit to this nation.

The FACTS are simple. Illegals cost us BILLIONS each year in Healthcare, Education and Incarceration. While providing little in the way of taxes paid in.

Their mere existence in this nation is a criminal act, hence the label, ILLEGAL immigrants!!

Answer 5

What the article does not cover is the costs placed upon hospitals by illegals who come here with no insurance, don't pay taxes and get free care which the rest of us have to pay for. The report admitted that it was only looking at Medicaid. I hope people will see this report for what it is - a poor attempt at spinning a losing situation.

Answer 6

Childbirth and its complications accounted for 82% of the Emergency Medicaid Service expenditures and 92% of all hospitalizations. Over the four years seniors and the disabled, however, had increased costs.
And now all those families are eligible for other welfare because they now have US Citizen children. 'Jackpot babies'
And this is North Carolina? Think of the costs along the border. North Carolinians should have listened to Californians a long time ago.About 48 thousand individuals received care under emergency Medicaid services. 99% of the population was "undocumented" and 93% were Hispanic.

Those are some really alarming statistics. So 99% of 48 thousand were illegal aliens.
sheesh

Answer 7

Both my brothers live in big cities & at times the illegals tie up the medical care with no insurance & the insured people have to wait days to be treated. The illegals cost this country a lot of money.

Answer 8

Of course a grip was spent on childbirth...that's their free ticket into the USA. I find this study hard to believe on some points though.

Answer 9

Medicade??? MAYBE (isn't medicaid for older citizens??)
But when it comes to UNPAID medical bills, ILLEGALS are costing us PLENTY!!!!!!

We have hospitals in Tucson and Phoenix,Az that are CLOSING because of the MILLIONS of dollars in unpaid medical bills, that have been run up by ILLEGALS, and NOT paid!! And, this is only TWO citys!!!