Actually, immigrants are keeping Medicare afloat
A new study blows a hole in the conventional wisdom that immigrants are sapping the nation's welfare programs
![Jim DeMint](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uZAza7vFQ2nJPm8PkWJyWn-415-80.jpg)
As Washington grapples with a sweeping bill that would overhaul the nation's immigration system, a new report shows that immigrants have contributed billions of dollars more to Medicare than they've received from the program, thus helping it to remain solvent.
According to the study, published Wednesday in the journal Health Affairs, immigrants in recent years contributed roughly $14 billion more per year to Medicare than they received from the program. As a result, foreign-born U.S. residents produced a $115 billion surplus from 2002-2009, while the rest of the population created a $28 billion deficit over that same period.
In other words, the aging U.S. population was sucking money from Medicare faster than it could replenish those funds, and immigrants helped cover the shortfall.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The logic behind the findings is straightforward: Immigrants tend to be younger, working-age adults who don't yet qualify for Medicare. Medicare recipients must be 65 years old and up, or meet certain disability requirements.
According to the study, about 80 percent of foreign-born residents were of working age (18-64 years old) in 2009. For American-born residents, that figure was just shy of 60 percent.
The researchers argued that their findings make a strong economic case for a more inclusive immigration policy.
"Policies that reduce immigration would almost certainly weaken Medicare’s financial health, while an increasing flow of immigrants might bolster its sustainability," they concluded.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
That finding directly contradicts the notion that immigrants are a drain on public welfare programs. Critics of a bipartisan immigration bill making its way through the Senate have argued that it will dangerously bloat such programs and cost taxpayers trillions of dollars. A recent study by the Heritage Foundation, led by former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), offered the most extreme take, claiming the bill would cost the U.S. $6.3 trillion over the next half-century.
The Heritage study was widely criticized — even by conservatives — for failing to consider the economic boost an influx of new workers would bring to the nation.
However, the cost of the Senate immigration bill remains a significant concern among members of Congress. And immigration-reform skeptics were hardly moved by the new report.
"It's a yawner of a study," Robert Rector, a Heritage Foundation researcher who worked on that group's report, told the New York Times. "Young people don't get Medicare. We don’t need several Ph.D.s to tell us that."
While it may be obvious that young people don't get Medicare, the report's authors maintain that was not their focus. Rather, they emphasized how "a steady flow of young immigrants would help offset the aging of the US population and the health care financing challenge that it presents."
To reach their conclusions, researchers used Census data to determine how much immigrants — including undocumented immigrants — paid in payroll taxes. They then used Medicare data from the Department of Health and Human Services to estimate how much money that same group received in payments.
Here's how they explained the difference:
Immigrants pay into the HI Trust Fund [which funds Medicare] in several ways. Those with legal status contribute through payroll taxes under valid Social Security numbers. Undocumented immigrants often pay payroll taxes under Social Security numbers tied to invented names or belonging to someone else, because to comply with federal law employers must obtain a Social Security number from every employee. Less frequently, undocumented immigrants pay self-employment taxes (in lieu of payroll taxes) under individual tax identification numbers, which allows them to claim credit for their contributions should they eventually obtain legal status. [Health Affairs]
The researchers said that a similar phenomenon is likely affecting Social Security as well, with the younger immigrant population paying into the program but not tapping its benefits. By the government's own accounting, that seems to be true. Last month, that agency reported that undocumented immigrants contributed an estimated $12 billion to the program in 2010 alone.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
-
Why is China stockpiling resources?
The Explainer The superpower has been amassing huge reserves of commodities at great cost despite its economic downturn
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Paraguay's dangerous dalliance with cryptocurrency
Under The Radar Overheating Paraguayans are pushing back over power outages caused by illegal miners
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The Week contest: Tattoo prediction
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published