Emergency Medicaid spending for undocumented immigrants made up only 0.4% of total Medicaid spending in 2022, according to a new study published in JAMA.
Minimal Cost Per Resident
Researchers from Emory University, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed 2022 Medicaid financial data from 38 states and Washington, D.C. They found emergency Medicaid for undocumented immigrants amounted to about $9.63 per resident.
Even in states with the largest undocumented populations, costs remained below 1% of Medicaid budgets, though these states spent roughly 15 times more per person than those with smaller undocumented communities.
What Emergency Medicaid Covers
Emergency Medicaid is a limited program that covers emergency medical treatment for people who meet Medicaid requirements except for legal immigration status. It typically covers immediate, short-term care, such as labor and delivery. Some states also include services like dialysis and cancer treatments.
Proposed Cuts Would Have Little Impact
The findings come as Republican lawmakers push the 2025 Budget Reconciliation law, which proposes $163 billion in federal spending cuts, including reductions to Medicaid. Supporters claim the cuts target groups who “should not be receiving care,” but researchers argue that undocumented immigrants already lack access to comprehensive Medicaid, Medicare, or ACA marketplace coverage.
The study’s authors warned that cutting emergency Medicaid would save little money while disproportionately harming states with large immigrant populations, as well as safety-net hospitals and clinicians serving those communities.
They noted limitations, including that 11 states did not report emergency Medicaid spending and the analysis did not include other forms of public spending on undocumented immigrants.
For more on immigration policies, stay tuned to Que Onda Magazine.