Amidst the continuing din surrounding immigration reform, we often hear claims that immigrants from south of the Rio Grande are putting enormous pressure on the American health care system.
As I have pointed out before, despite having worked in two hospitals whose patient service areas include significant Hispanic populations, I have never seen any evidence supporting the widely-held belief that they are overrunning the system.
On Friday, the CDC released a report that confirms my experience. The report, which contains a variety of interesting data on the utilization of ambulatory medical care, includes the following passage:
The total visit rate for Hispanics (308.4 visits per 100 persons) was lower that that of non-Hispanics (417.4 visits per 100 persons).
Another claim that often accompanies assertions about disproportionate Hispanic use of health care resources is that the brunt of this overutilization is felt most acutely in America’s emergency rooms. The CDC report also undermines that claim:
Between 1995 and 2005, population visit rates increased by about 20% in primary care offices, surgical care offices, and OPDs; 37% in medical specialty offices, and 7% in EDs.
In other words, the growth in ED utilization has been far more modest than that associated with other sources of ambulatory care. This also confirms my experience.
So, at the risk of losing my membership in the VRWC, I continue to believe that the effect of immigration on American health care has been greatly exaggerated.
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