Stunning new data collected by the state of Florida shows that illegal immigrants cost the state’s health care system nearly $660 million in 2024.
On Tuesday, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) announced the latest update to its Hospital Patient Immigration Status Dashboard, which records the total number of hospital admissions and emergency room visits based on a patient’s immigration status.
The data for 2024 showed a total of 67,700 emergency room visits were made by patients who illegally entered the country, leading to roughly $76.6 million in Medicaid payments for their emergency care.
“The Agency remains dedicated to fulfilling Governor Desantis’ commitment to protecting taxpayer dollars from being used on individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States,” AHCA Deputy Secretary Kim Smoak said.
“The data confirms that the financial burden of illegal immigration continues to strain Florida’s healthcare system. We will continue working to ensure that hospitals and healthcare providers deliver quality services to U.S. citizens.”
The county paying the most, according to the AHCA dashboard, is Miami-Dade County, which handed over over $282 million to pay for the health services of illegal immigrants in 2024.
Other top Florida cities:
-Fort Lauderdale: $77 million
-Tampa: $64 million
-Orlando: $38 million
-Jacksonville: $34 million
Several counties do not have any hospitals, so they did not have any costs to report.
In 2024, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law as part of his crackdown on illegal immigration in the Sunshine State that presented an immigration question to patients at hospitals that accept Medicaid. Despite the question not being mandatory, the move led to a 54% decline in Medicaid billings to a state program for undocumented immigrants’ medical assistance, according to Politico.
The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. is estimated to have surged to more than 18 million after the Biden-era border crisis, according to a new research report from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
The updated rate is 11% higher than an estimate the group published in June 2023, when it found that there were 16.8 million illegal immigrants. Overall, it is estimated that the population has grown by 4.1 million or 28.2% since December 2020.
FAIR estimates that there were around 11.7 million illegal immigrants in 2013.
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Why do liberals keep endorsing the money spent on illegals? Why do liberals continue to support illegals bombarding our country? Why are liberals so against finding and eliminating fraud and wasteful spending? Why are liberals supporting liberals who are getting rich off taxpayers (there are some Republicans also)? Why are liberals so h**l bent on destroying the United States of America? MAGA ALL THE WAY!!!!!
Can you imagine what the medical costs for illegals is for counties like Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California?
The border states have dealt with the cost for over seventy years and were told to deal with it. Take your own advice and vote for people who will put a stop to the invasion!
I have to know what the cost is across America; can’t imagine the waste !