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Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order on Thursday that requires hospitals in Texas to collect information on the immigration status of patients so that the hospitals can then track costs incurred for the care of undocumented migrants.
Previous guidance for hospitals did not include questions about immigration status. The executive order would mandate the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collect this information so that the state of Texas could then bill the federal government.
“Due to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ open border policies, Texas has had to foot the bill for medical costs for individuals illegally in the state,” Governor Abbott said in a statement on Thursday. “Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants.”
The order requires that hospitals in Texas collect information regarding the costs of medical care provided to undocumented immigrants starting Nov 1, 2024. Direct covered hospitals would have to report data to the state health commission quarterly, beginning in March 2025.
“This would be a new requirement, and we are reviewing it as quickly as possible,” said Carrie Williams, spokesperson for the Texas Hospital Association. “Right now, hospitals don’t ask about patient immigration status as a condition of treatment. Hospitals are required by law to provide life-saving treatment to anyone, regardless of ability to pay or status.”
The association will be in a better position to answer additional questions once they've had more time to analyze the order, Williams said.
Disclosure: Texas Hospital Association has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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Correction, : An earlier version of this article incorrectly described the category of hospitals covered by the governor’s executive order. The order covers the vast majority of hospitals in Texas, not only public hospitals. A spokesman for the governor confirmed that the order includes acute care hospitals enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. According to an email from Carrie Williams from the Texas Hospital Association, the vast majority of Texas hospitals are enrolled in Medicaid.