New data collected by Florida shows that illegal immigrants would cost the Sunshine health care system nearly $660 million in 2024.
The Florida Department of Health Care (AHCA) announced the latest update to the hospital's Patient Immigration Status Dashboard on Tuesday.
Data for 2024 showed that a total of 67,700 emergency room visits were made by illegally entering the country, with approximately $76.6 million in Medicaid payments for emergency care.
In total, the state paid nearly $660 million for the costs of care illegally provided to immigrants in the United States.
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“The agency is dedicated to meeting the governor's Governor DeSantis' commitment to protecting taxpayer dollars to individuals that are not legally present in the United States,” said Kim Soo-Ok, Associate Secretary at AHCA.
“This data confirms that the financial burden of illegal immigration continues to strain Florida's health care system. We continue to ensure hospitals and healthcare providers provide quality services to U.S. citizens.”
According to the AHCA dashboard, the most paid county is Miami-Dade County, which exceeded $282 million in 2024 for illegal immigrant health services payments.
Nearby Broward County, fixed in Fort Lauderdale, was recorded for $77 million, Hillsboro County (Tampa) at $64 million, Orange County (Orlando), $38 million, and Duval County (Jacksonville) at $34 million. There was no cost to report, especially in some counties around the Big Bend area, as there were no hospitals.
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Meanwhile, some major hospitals reportedly saw the majority of ER patients refuse to answer citizenship questions completely.
Almost two-thirds of patients seen on the hill hills at Tampa General Hospital refused to answer in the first three months of 2024, according to Tallahassee Democrats. Similarly, near St. Augustine, Flagler Hospital reported that 96% of the 36,000 ER patients had refused to record citizenship questions.
In 2024, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the law as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration in the sun, which presented immigration questions to hospital patients accepting Medicaid. They are not forced to answer that, but the move has resulted in a 54% drop in Medicaid billing to state programs for medical assistance for immigrants, according to Politico.
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State Rep. R. Melbourne, who co-hosted the immigration law package that led hospitals to catalogue such data, said last year that $500 million was spent on healthcare for “people who shouldn't be in the US.”
“That's $5 billion stolen from a real Floridian,” he told WLRN.
In January, President Donald Trump also removed hospitals from the list of places that were not immune to ice activity.
