Florida’s healthcare system was burdened with $660 million in unpaid hospital bills in 2024 incurred by illegal migrants, according to the state’s most recent report.
The Sunshine’s State’s “Hospital Patient Immigration Status Report,” released by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), says hospitals go “largely uncompensated” for the health care they dole out to illegal migrants, and the large number of indigent patients is a “direct contributor to the strain on Florida’s health care system.”
The report adds that, in 2024, $659.9 million was spent on “providing care to illegal aliens across the state.” The number tops the $566 million lost to illegals in 2023, though in 2023 the numbers only began tracking the costs starting in June after the state’s legislature passed a law requiring the amassing of the data on unpaid hospital bills, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
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“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 AHCA manages the state’s Medicaid program, regulating and licensing healthcare facilities and publishing state health data. The agency also has a dedicated Medicaid fraud unit that works directly with the Florida Attorney General’s office.
As a result of the 2023 law, the AHCA publishes its report on healthcare costs for illegal aliens on March 1 of every year. But, even with the reporting, the loss might be worse because the current law is based on data from patients who self-report their immigration status and many illegal migrants do not volunteer that information.
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The ACHA’s Hospital Patient Immigration Status Dashboard breaks the data down to the county level to allow residents to look up the information online.
The counties with the highest percentage of patients who told doctors and administrations that they were illegal aliens include Miami-Dade, Lee, and Manatee counties.
The top three counties included Miami-Dade, which reported losing $282.2 million, Broward County, which lost $77 million, and Hillsborough, which reported $64.4 million in losses.
Overall, the report claimed illegal aliens accounted for 67,700 emergency room visits. However, the real number is likely far higher because many of the state’s hospitals noted that more than half of their patients refused to say if they were legal residents or not.
Tampa General Hospital Spring Hill, for instance, said 63.4 percent of its emergency room patients did not answer the citizenship question on admitting paperwork.
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