Health Care Spending Trend

Health spending on noncitizen immigrants is half the amount spent on native US citizens.
The American Medical News (3/3, Trapp) reported that, according to findings published in Health Affairs, "Annual health spending on noncitizen immigrants is about half the spending on native US citizens, largely because many noncitizens lack jobs with health insurance and are ineligible for most public coverage." But, increasing immigrants' "access to health insurance or providing a pathway to citizenship likely would increase health spending, according to" study co-author Jim P. Stimpson, assistant professor of behavioral sciences at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Notably, the study showed that "physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare professionals were less likely to be paid for noncitizen care than for treating US natives."