Study: Immigrants Not Responsible For Rising Health Care Costs in Los Angeles County
Undocumented immigrants and their children in Los Angeles County are no more likely than U.S.-born residents to obtain care at emergency departments, including overnight stays, according to a report released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
The study found that children with a foreign-born parent are as likely as children with a U.S.-born parent to use an ED. Children with a naturalized parent are less likely to do so.
Among ethnicities, Hispanics are more likely than any other group to be uninsured, while Hispanic and Asian adults are less likely than white adults to see physicians, according to the study. Black adults were more likely than white adults to see a physician.
Michael Wilson, spokesperson for the county Department of Health Services, said the study shows that undocumented residents are one component -- not the cause -- of the county's budget deficit. "The real problem is the growing numbers of uninsured and the rising costs of health care," he said (Anderson, Los Angeles Daily News, 12/20).