A new report from Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) reveals that the cost of uncompensated care for illegal aliens and the total cost of care provided to illegal aliens in Florida just for 2024 was nearly $660 million - $282 million of which was incurred in Miami-Dade County alone.
The report cites additional data showing Medicaid payments to hospitals for the emergency care of illegal immigrants totaled $76.6 million last year and comprised over 67,000 visits to the ER.
"The data confirms that the financial burden of illegal immigration continues to strain Florida's health care system," said AHCA deputy secretary Kim Smoak.
State Senator Blaise Ingoglia appeared last week on American Family Radio to voice his concerns about the report.
"This is a byproduct of what we have seen over the previous four years under the Biden administration," he explained. "And quite frankly, this is what a lot of progressive Democrats want. What people need to understand is that this is a tax on people that you're just not seeing, because [that] 'uncompensated care' … is technically going to be compensated. But we're going to pay for it in insurance premiums."
A similar AHCA report for 2023 indicated hospitals statewide provided $566 million in medical services for illegal aliens ($232 million in Miami-Dade County) and 40,303 emergency room visits.
Such costs to the state are just one reason Ingoglia is pushing his fellow legislators to pass stronger border enforcement measures. Specifically, he has recently introduced SB 1498 ("Services to Noncitizens") – which he describes as a "zero-tolerance law" on illegal immigration.
"Unfortunately, it's not going to be heard; it's probably dead this session," he lamented. "But … it's very frustrating and, I think, a travesty especially in the state of Florida.
"We have a supermajority," he continued. "There's a reason why we have that many people [conservative Republicans] elected. It's because people like the way we govern and we're aggressive. So, if we're not being aggressive as possible, then I think we're doing a disservice to the people of the state of Florida."
SB 1498 would also require that all private employers – rather than only those employing a specified number or more of employees – use the federal E-Verify system to verify a new employee's employment eligibility for financial assistance from the government.
