Some estimates of the total cost of healthcare for illegal immigrants in the United States have exceeded $50 billion annually. Such numbers have been used in the debate over illegal immigration. According to a study released by the Rand Corp. and published in the November/December edition of the journal Health Affairs, the nationwide cost of healthcare for illegal immigrants between the ages of 18 and 64 at $1.1 billion in 2000 — or about $11 per household. The Rand figures do not include costs for children and the elderly. Also, the data were collected in 2000, and the number of illegal immigrant has swelled in the five years since then, and so have healthcare costs.

However, in the midst of the current debate over illegal immigration, it is helpful to have some authorative date to use in the discussion. Let's say they are wrong and have understated these costs by $1 billion — which is a lot — I'd still say that these are relatively small aggregate costs for the nation.

See story in Los Angeles Times, Illegal immigrants' healthcare bill is tallied