Immigrants Help Medicare Stay Solvent, Study Finds

Immigrants to the U.S. contributed $115.2 billion more to Medicare's Hospital Trust Fund during the past decade than they withdrew, casting doubt on criticism they overburden the health plan for the elderly and disabled, according to a study by researchers from Harvard and the City University of New York.

Kaiser Health News: Immigrants Contribute More To Medicare Than They Take Out, Study Finds 
As Congress mulls changing America’s border and naturalization rules, a study finds that immigrant workers are helping buttress Medicare’s finances, because they contribute tens of billions a year more than immigrant retirees use in medical services (Rau, 5/29).

The New York Times: For Medicare, Immigrants Offer Surplus, Study Finds
Immigrants have contributed billions of dollars more to Medicare in recent years than the program has paid out on their behalf, according to a new study, a pattern that goes against the notion that immigrants are a drain on federal health care spending. The study, led by researchers at Harvard Medical School, measured immigrants’ contributions to the part of Medicare that pays for hospital care, a trust fund that accounts for nearly half of the federal program’s revenue. It found that immigrants generated surpluses totaling $115 billion from 2002 to 2009. In comparison, the American-born population incurred a deficit of $28 billion over the same period (Tavernise, 5/29).

Bloomberg: Immigrants Provide $11 Billion To U.S. Medicare Program
Immigrants to the U.S. contributed $115.2 billion more to the Medicare Trust Fund during the past decade than they withdrew, casting doubt on criticism they overburden the health plan, Harvard University researchers said. The data, published in the journal Health Affairs, suggest immigrants, mainly those without U.S. citizenship, help subsidize the nation’s health program for the elderly and disabled (Cortez, 5/30).

The Wall Street Journal: Study: Immigrants Boost Medicare Hospital Fund
America’s immigrants have been a boon for the Medicare trust fund, a new study shows. In 2009 alone, immigrants made 14.7% of contributions to the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, but they were responsible for just 7.9% of its expenditures, according to a study by professors from Harvard Medical School and the City University of New York (Murray, 5/29).

USA Today: Immigrants Subsidize Medicare Recipients, Study Says
Immigrants contributed about $115 billion more from their paychecks to the Medicare Trust Fund than they took out over a seven-year period in the past decade, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School. As the Senate debates a new immigration bill and House Republicans work toward a bill that restricts access to government services for unauthorized immigrants who become legal citizens, the researchers concluded in a study released Wednesday that restricting immigration could deplete the fund (Kennedy, 5/29).

Los Angeles Times: Immigrants Help Medicare Stay Solvent
Immigrants in the United States both legally and illegally are helping sustain Medicare, contributing about $14 billion more a year to the federal health program for the elderly than they use in medical services, a new study indicates. The surplus generated by immigrants contrasts sharply with deficits caused by native-born Americans, as medical care for elderly beneficiaries depletes Medicare’s reserves more quickly than working-age U.S. natives can refill them (Levey, 5/29).