Immigrants Give More to Medicare Than They Receive, a Study Finds
Source: new york times
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.
The findings shed light what demographers have long known: Immigrants are crucial in balancing the age structure of American society, providing an infusion of young, working-age adults who support the country’s aging population and help cover the costs of Medicare and Social Security. And with the largest generation in the United States, the baby boomers, now starting to retire, the financial help from immigrants has never been more needed, experts said.
Individual immigrant contributions were roughly the same as those of American citizens, the study found, but immigrants as a group received less than they paid in, largely because they were younger on average than the American-born population and fewer of them were old enough to be eligible for benefits. The median age of Hispanics, whose foreign-born contingent is by far the largest immigrant group, is 27, according to the Brookings Institution. The median age of whites in the United States is 42.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/health/immigrants-give-more-to-medicare-than-they-receive-a-study-finds.html?pagewanted=all
= new reply since forum marked as read
Those who are unauthorized to work in the U.S. may be using fake social security numbers and somehow made it past the I-9 stage to get a job. Their Medicare contributions would then go to a social security account that either does not exist or belongs to someone else.
Of course, these workers would not be able to take advantage of their contributions if they went to a social security number that is not real or belongs to someone else.
On that topic, an employee found out last week that her social security number is or was used by 10 other people spread across the U.S. Her credit is in shambles and she is working with the IRS to reconcile earnings and withholdings. She is a widow who lost her husband to throat cancer just two years ago and is still working at her age because she can't afford to retire. It looks like she has a few more years to go, unfortunately. 
I also wanted to add that most non-immigrant visa holders - H-1Bs, Ls, Es, TNs, Os, Ps, Qs, etc. - are also contributing but may not necessarily benefit, since most of them will end up leaving the U.S. at some point.
