Texas hospitals tracking costs of treating illegal immigrants under new directive

Texas hospitals are now tracking the cost of treating illegal immigrants. As of Friday, medical staff must ask patients whether they are residing in the US legally, in accordance with an order from Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) that apparently further distances his state from the Biden-Harris border policies, according to the Associated Press.

Even though patients will not be forced to answer questions about their legal status in order to receive medical attention, critics are already claiming that the new policy will prevent some people from receiving urgent medical attention. But the policy was inspired by a similar mandate in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is also at odds with the Biden-Harris immigration policy. Texas hospitals have prepared for the new policy, Breitbart reported.

Although the order sounds tough, it all depends upon the cooperation of the patients, who are not required to disclose their immigration status. Hospital workers must also be clear that a patient’s treatment will not be affected by whether they are citizens or illegal immigrants.

The first reports of costs incurred by illegals are not due at the state capital until March. These will be submitted without the names or other personal information of people who identify as non-citizens. The result will be a highly incomplete record of how many illegals were prepared to admit to that status while receiving healthcare at a Texas hospital.

The reports will also strive to calculate the cost of Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and how much less taxpayers would be paying without it. “Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants,” Abbott said when he introduced the policy last week, according to Breitbart.

Florida has already been the test case for the hospital policy which would appear to threaten enforcement without guaranteeing complete data on exactly how many illegals are accessing hospital care. While those opposed to the policy continue to fret about people not seeking medical aid, the objective of the program has been severely limited because the release of information is entirely voluntary.

Because patients don’t have to say whether they are legally in the country or not, 8 percent of those asked simply don’t answer. There is also the possibility that some people are lying about their immigration status and there is no remedy for that in the policy.

“The bottom line for patients is that this doesn’t change hospital care. Texas hospitals continue to be a safe place for needed care,” Carrie Williams, spokesperson for the hospital association, told AP.