Total cost of care provided to illegal immigrants
in Florida nearly $660 million
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – On March 7, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) announced the latest update to 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 from January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024.
“The Agency remains dedicated to fulfilling Governor Desantis’ commitment to protecting taxpayer dollars from being used on individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States,” said AHCA Deputy Secretary Kim Smoak. “The data confirms that the financial burden of illegal immigration continues to strain Florida’s health care system. We will continue working to ensure that hospitals and health care providers deliver quality services to U.S. citizens.”
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 2024, it is estimated that the total cost of care provided to illegal immigrants is nearly $660 million.
- Federally required Medicaid payments to hospitals for the emergency care of illegal immigrants totaled $76.6 million in 2024.
- Miami-Dade County had the highest estimated amount of expenses incurred on illegal alien hospital visits with $282.2 million.
- A total of 67,700 emergency room visits by patients who were illegally in the country.
An interactive summary of the dashboard can be found on the Agency’s webpage here.
— provided by Florida Agency for Health Care Administration