Originally published August 6 2005
American immigrants lack health care
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A new study has stated that non-U.S.-born Americans spend less money on health care then natural-born citizens. The study also states that immigrant children are not getting the proper health care they require.
Immigrants in the United States spend less than half what native-born residents spend per capita on health care, according to a new study from Harvard and Columbia universities published Monday in the American Journal of Public Health.
Using government data from the U.S. Department of Health's Agency for Healthcare Research, the authors of the study said what they learned "refutes the assumption that immigrants represent a disproportionate financial burden on the U.S. health care system."
Described as the first national study on the health care expenditures of immigrants, the study involved a complex analysis of 1998 government data, comparing what immigrants and the native-born spent on emergency room visits, hospital visits and prescription drugs.
U.S.-born Latinos spent $1,870, compared with $962 for foreign-born Latinos.
The study also found that immigrant children received dramatically less health care than U.S.-born children: 71 percent less in doctor's visits and 72 percent less prescription medications.
Although immigrant children visited emergency rooms half as much as U.S.-born children, their average per capita expenditures were greater.
Advocates of limits to immigration and a crackdown on undocumented immigrants criticized the report, saying that it used old data and fails to take into account the true cost of immigrant health care -- particularly to the undocumented -- at the country's public hospitals.
"You can't determine whether immigrants are a burden to the health care system simply by this kind of analysis," said Steven A. Camarota, a research analyst at the Washington think tank Center for Immigration Studies.
You have to find out what they pay in taxes."
Diana Hull, president of the Californians for Population Stabilization, a group that calls for a moratorium on immigration, challenged the study because it did not distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml