JSPES, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Summer 2004 )
pp. 225-241

Uncontrolled Immigration and the U.S. Health Care System

Alison Green and Jack Martin

The authors argue that the rising pressure of illegal and legal immigration into the United States is a major contributor to the current financial crisis that threatens the U.S. health care system. They produce evidence to show that in some hospitals, as much as two-thirds of total operating costs are for uncompensated care for illegal aliens, and that the massive volume of both legal and illegal immigration is responsible for an estimated national total of unreimbursed medical expenses that exceeds one billion dollars annually.