Immigrants aren’t clogging hospital ERs, study finds

“A new study counters the impression that communities with lots of uninsured, immigrant or Hispanic residents put a drain on hospital emergency departments.

Instead, the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington reported that such communities generally had lower rates of emergency department use than those with low numbers of uninsured or non-citizen residents.

The center found that emergency department use in 12 nationally representative communities varied considerably in 2002 from the national average of 32 visits per 100 people. Nationwide, visits to emergency rooms increased by 26 percent between 1993 and 2003, to some 114 million a year.”

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