TEXAS, USA — Texas hospitals will have to start asking patients about their immigration status beginning next week.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order in August directing Texas hospitals to collect data on inpatient discharges and emergency visits by immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization and the costs associated with providing medical services to that group.
The executive order applies to hospitals enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program and any other providers identified by the Health and Human Services Commission.
The order also requires hospitals to tell the patients that the information “will not affect patient care.”
Abbott’s executive order directs hospitals to begin collecting the data Nov. 1. The executive order directs the data be reported to the Health and Human Services Commission quarterly, with the first submission due in March 2025.
The Texas Hospital Association shortly after Abbott signed the executive order that “hospitals are required by law to provide life-saving treatment to anyone, regardless of ability to pay or status.”
“This would be a new requirement, and we are reviewing it as quickly as possible,” the hospital association’s statement read. “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.”
Abbott cited a “surge in individuals unlawfully crossing the Texas-Mexico border” as justification for the executive order. Florida has a similar law.
“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,” Abbott previously said in a statement.
The ACLU of Texas, though, warned the executive order could lead to damage and worse health outcomes.
“By conscripting health care workers as shadow immigration officers, the governor is once again playing politics with peoples’ lives,” the ACLU of Texas said in a post on X after the order was issued. “Federal guidance is clear that ANYONE can access medical care regardless of immigration status. Texas has some of the worst health care outcomes in the country. This latest abuse of emergency authority could make things even worse.”
State Rep. Chris Turner, D-Arlington, on Inside Texas Politics framed the action as purely political.
“He framed this as a healthcare cost. The way to lower healthcare costs in Texas is to reduce the number of uninsured," Turner said. "He has the power to do that. He’s had the power to do that for 10 years. But he has consistently blocked our efforts, Democrats’ efforts, to expand healthcare coverage which would lower costs for everyone."
Texas leads the nation in the number of uninsured residents.
