OK - Illegal Immigration Increases State Medicaid Costs by 154%

Taxpayer costs have gone up 154% for medical emergencies since 2003. Illegal immigrants with medical emergencies cost taxpayers almost $10 million last year in Oklahoma, a 154 percent increase since 2003 - The Oklahoman

Here is an interesting "illegal" immigrant tidbit from The Oklahoman (registration required):

For the period ending June 30, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority paid $9.7 million to treat 4,450 individuals identified as "illegal aliens" -- the federal government's term for people who enter the country without documentation. This compares with $3.8 million to treat 2,054 individuals three years earlier.

The lion's share of spending on Medicaid's Alien Emergency Services Program is for labor and delivery costs. Although the breakdown for state fiscal year 2006 is not available yet, in the previous year 84 percent of the $7.8 million spent covered births, said Jo Kilgore, spokeswoman for the health care authority.

Those that have an issue with people that enter the country illegally find this increase unnecessary. Those more in support of "illegal" immigrants, like Beth Cox said,

"I used to believe, like many citizens, that their motivation for coming here was to have their babies. ... I don't believe that anymore. They don't come here for the services. ... They come because they can get work here."

Which is all well and good and all the more reason to pull the carpet out from under the use of medicaid for individuals that are not citizens/residents of this country.

The full article is here....

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.**