Study finds immigrants may subsidise the care of US citizens
A recent study published in the International Journal of Health Services has found that immigrants use far less healthcare than non-immigrants and may subsidise the care of US citizens. The research was conducted by Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine.
A recent study published in the International Journal of Health Services has found that immigrants use far less healthcare than non-immigrants and may subsidise the care of US citizens. The research was conducted by Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine.
The researchers examined all studies published since 2000 related to health care expenditures by immigrants and found that, compared to US-born individuals, immigrants have lower rates of utilisation and lower per capita expenditures from private and public insurance sources. They also found that, across all age groups, immigrants’ utilisation was one-half to two-thirds as high as that of the US-born population.
This led the researchers to conclude that as a group, immigrants subsidised private insurance and some public insurance programs such as Medicare because they constitute a low-risk pool that pays more into the system than is paid out for their care.
“Immigrants have been blamed for a range of problems plaguing the US, including healthcare costs,” said study author Lila Flavin, a medical student at Tufts University School of Medicine. “But studies demonstrate that immigrants are propping up the Medicare Trust Fund by paying much more into Medicare than they will ever receive in benefits. Recent immigrants are substantially healthier than native-born Americans, which benefits the American health care economy. But to maintain their health over the long term, new immigrants – and all Americans – need access to good healthcare. Denying care to immigrants is a human rights violation that cannot be justified based on costs, and indeed may raise costs in the future.”