Total cost of care provided to illegal immigrants in Florida more than $566 million
March 20, 2024 – The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) announces the launch of the Hospital Patient Immigration Status Dashboard which reports the total number of hospital admissions and emergency department visits reported based on a patient’s immigration status through the last two quarters of 2023 (June 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023).
“Governor DeSantis continues to put Floridians first with his commitment to fiscal responsibility and prioritization of the needs and care of citizens first,” said AHCA Secretary Jason Weida. “This dashboard highlights the cost of illegal immigration which puts a strain on our health care system and taxpayers here in Florida. Our hospitals and health care systems are designed to provide quality services to the citizens of the United States.”
The dashboard includes county level data information relating to the estimated cost of uncompensated care for patients who are not lawfully present in the United States. Highlights from the reported information include:
- Based on admissions data collected for 2023, it is estimated that the total cost of care provided to illegal immigrants is greater than $566 million.
- Miami-Dade County had the highest estimated amount of expenses incurred on illegal alien hospital visits with $231.80 million.
- A total of 54,443 hospital admissions and emergency room visits by patients who were illegally in the country.
An interactive summary of the dashboard can be found on our webpage here
The Agency for Health Care Administration is committed to better health care for all Floridians. The Agency administers Florida’s Medicaid program, licenses and regulates more than 50,000 health care facilities and 47 health plans, and publishes health care data and statistics at FloridaHealthFinder. Additional information about Agency initiatives is available via Facebook (AHCAFlorida) and Twitter (@AHCA_FL).
