Global HMO.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

Immigration: For those who think that illegal aliens are a good deal because they will work for such low wages, consider this figure -- $9 billion.

That rather large sum is Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's low-end estimate of how much is spent each year on health care for illegal immigrants, not by themselves but by others.

So while illegal alien labor might be cheap for businesses that employ undocumented workers, it isn't, as Rohrabacher points out, for taxpayers.

Rohrabacher arrives at the $9 billion figure by multiplying $21 billion, the amount of uncompensated health care services provided last year by the American Hospital Association's member facilities, by 43%, the estimated portion of the uninsured in the U.S. that are illegal immigrants.

The real number is likely higher than $9 billion. The American Hospital Association represents most -- roughly 70% -- but not all, of the country's health care providers.

Rohrabacher isn't going after the entire amount yet, though. He's starting out with legislation that would "mitigate the damage" Congress caused by including $1 billion in the Medicare reform bill to pay for emergency health care services for illegal immigrants.

In a budget that exceeds $2 trillion, a billion dollars is a relative pittance. But it will grow faster than a ...