Immigrant adults are a diverse inhabitants who make up 16% of adults in the USA and play a major function within the nation’s workforce and communities. Main as much as the 2024 election, there was a rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric and immigration has been a central speaking level for candidates. The Trump campaign has repeatedly described immigrants as a supply of crime, a burden for taxpayers, and a drain on authorities packages like Medicare and Social Safety. The Harris campaign has additionally centered on immigration, emphasizing her robust on crime stance as a former legal professional common of a border state, whereas additionally highlighting her household’s immigrant roots. Some states have additionally taken restrictive actions centered on immigrants, together with requiring hospitals to gather affected person immigration standing.
Amid this rhetoric and these current state actions, knowledge on immigrants’ well being care use and prices in addition to their contributions to the financial system and workforce, together with within the well being care sector, might be informative. This transient supplies key knowledge on these matters drawing on KFF evaluation throughout a spread of information sources, together with the KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants, the most important nationally consultant survey of immigrants performed up to now, and different analysis.
Immigrants aren’t extra probably than U.S.-born residents to report utilizing authorities help for meals, housing, or well being care, and undocumented immigrants stay ineligible for federally funded help.
The 2023 KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants reveals that, regardless of having decrease family incomes and dealing with monetary challenges, immigrant adults aren’t any extra probably than U.S.-born adults to say that they or somebody residing with them acquired authorities help with meals, housing, or well being care prior to now 12 months. Total, about a quarter (28%) of each immigrant adults and U.S.-born citizen adults say they acquired such a help prior to now 12 months (Determine 1).
Lawfully current immigrants face eligibility restrictions for federal packages, together with Medicaid and the Kids’s Well being Insurance coverage Program (CHIP). Normally, lawfully current immigrants will need to have a “qualified status” to be eligible for Medicaid or CHIP, and lots of, together with most lawful everlasting residents or “inexperienced card” holders, should wait 5 years after acquiring certified standing earlier than they could enroll even when they meet different eligibility necessities. Some lawfully current immigrants, corresponding to refugees and asylees, are exempt from the five-year ready interval. States also can increase protection to lawfully residing immigrant pregnant individuals and youngsters with no 5 12 months wait. Lawfully current immigrants should purchase Reasonably priced Care Act (ACA) Market protection and obtain tax credit to offset the price of that protection with no five-year wait. Lawfully current immigrants also can qualify for Medicare however will need to have adequate work historical past. If they don’t have this work historical past, they’ll buy Medicare Half A after residing legally within the U.S. for 5 years constantly.
Undocumented immigrants aren’t eligible to enroll in federally funded protection together with Medicaid, CHIP, or Medicare, or to buy protection by way of the ACA Marketplaces. Medicaid funds for emergency companies could also be made to hospitals or different suppliers on behalf of people who’re in any other case eligible for Medicaid however for his or her immigration standing. Emergency circumstances embrace those who place an people’ well being in severe jeopardy or trigger severe bodily impairment or dysfunction, though states have discretion to find out what companies might be reimbursed by way of Emergency Medicaid.
Some states have established absolutely state-funded programs to offer protection to immigrants no matter immigration standing, though they differ in eligibility and scope of advantages supplied. Analysis means that increasing well being protection for immigrants can scale back uninsurance charges, enhance well being care use, decrease prices, and enhance well being outcomes.
Immigrants, notably those that are undocumented, use much less well being care, together with emergency room care, than individuals born within the U.S.
Total, research reveals that immigrants, together with lawfully current and undocumented immigrants, use much less well being care than U.S.-born residents. Furthermore, the KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants reveals that amongst immigrant adults, probably undocumented immigrants are much less probably than lawfully current immigrants and naturalized residents to report looking for or receiving care within the U.S. or having a well being care go to prior to now 12 months. About six in ten (63%) probably undocumented immigrant adults report a well being care go to prior to now 12 months in contrast with 74% of lawfully current immigrant adults and 82% of naturalized citizen adults.
Decrease use of well being care amongst immigrants probably displays a mixture of them being younger and healthier than their U.S.-born counterparts in addition to them dealing with elevated limitations to care, together with language access challenges, confusion, and immigration-related fears. Prior KFF evaluation discovered that Trump-era insurance policies amplified these fears and contributed to higher reluctance to entry care.
Immigrants have decrease well being care prices than U.S.- born individuals.
Reflecting their decrease use of well being care, immigrants have decrease well being care expenditures than their U.S.-born counterparts. KFF analysis of 2021 medical expenditure knowledge reveals that, on common, annual per capita well being care expenditures for immigrants are about two-thirds these of U.S.-born residents ($4,875 vs. $7,277) (Determine 3). This displays decrease spending for many forms of well being care, together with office-based visits, prescribed drugs, inpatient care, outpatient care, and dental care. These findings are in keeping with different research which reveals that immigrants’ total well being expenditures are one-half to two-thirds of these of U.S.-born people, no matter standing, and that per capita expenditures from personal and public insurance coverage sources are decrease for immigrants, notably for undocumented immigrants. For instance, one study discovered that undocumented immigrants usually tend to be uninsured and have considerably decrease well being care expenditures than U.S.-born people per 12 months, and that regardless of variations within the chance of being uninsured, there aren’t any vital variations in charges of uncompensated care between undocumented immigrants and U.S.-born people.
Immigrants contribute to the financial system by way of their function within the workforce and tax funds, with analysis exhibiting that they assist subsidize well being take care of U.S.- born individuals and stabilize Medicare and Social Safety.
Immigrants help the nation’s workforce by filling unmet labor market wants, and research means that they don’t take jobs away from U.S.-born individuals. They play a disproportionate function filling jobs in important industries corresponding to construction and agriculture which might be at elevated threat of antagonistic well being outcomes and accidents, together with climate-related well being hazards. As well as, immigrants in addition to the grownup youngsters of immigrants play outsized roles within the health care workforce as physicians, surgeons, nurses, and long-term care staff (Determine 4). As well being care workforce shortages are projected to proceed and the U.S. 65 and older inhabitants grows, immigrants might assist mitigate these shortages.
Analysis reveals that undocumented immigrants contribute billions in federal, state, and native taxes annually. It’s estimated that greater than a 3rd of their tax {dollars} are payroll taxes that fund packages they can’t entry, together with Social Safety, Medicare, and the federal share of unemployment insurance coverage. Research additional finds that immigrants pay extra into the well being care system by way of taxes and medical insurance premiums than they make the most of, serving to to subsidize health care for U.S.-born residents. Earlier analysis discovered that with out the contributions undocumented immigrants make to the Medicare Trust Fund, it could attain insolvency earlier, and that undocumented immigrants end in a web optimistic impact on the monetary standing of Social Security.
