AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott has signed an executive order requiring the state Health and Human Services Commission to tell hospitals to collect information on patients who are "not lawfully present" in the U.S., starting on Nov. 1. That includes the number of inpatient discharges, emergency visits and the cost of care.
The governor wants the state to be able to use this data to seek reimbursements from the federal government because he said Texans shouldn't have to shoulder the burden of these costs.
Jeff Peek is an immigration attorney in Austin. He said this could be a big challenge for hospitals.
"There is going to be concerns on their part of what they are liable for. Is it just asking the question? He doesn't give a lot of information in the executive order about how to go about doing it. He just says, 'Ask them if they're lawfully present,'” Peek said.
The Texas Hospital Association (THA) advocates for hospitals and said it is reviewing this new requirement.
In a statement, the THA said in part, "This would be a new requirement, and we are reviewing it as quickly as possible. 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.”
Peek said there is also confusion with the wording "not lawfully present" in the order.
"Hospital officials don't have anything to with trying to determine immigration status, and you're essentially putting them in a position to decipher that," Peek said. "If you're citizen or permanent resident, there is a lot of gray. I think the data might not be accurate at all, so what’s the point of even doing it?"