ASAN (KXAN) – More than 31,000 undocumented people sought medical care in Texas in November 2024 after an executive order by state governor Greg Abbott to direct hospitals to start collecting data about patient migration.
Abbot fell Executive request number GA-46 On August 8, 2024. The matter brought the hospitals to start collecting information “with regard to patients who are not legally present in the United States”, starting from November 1, 2024, including the number of patients and the cost of care provided to these patients.
The ruler said that the executive was in response to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “open border policies.”
“What we are trying to do is is that we are trying to collect information so that we can first determine the size of the challenge we face,” Abbott’s ruler told KXan in an interview with April 3. “Assuming that the size is large, I think there will be all the reasons that make the state of Texas the right to prosecute the United States government, because the responsibility of the United States government is to pay any costs related to illegal immigration, and the healthcare facilities in Texas should not bear this burden.”
The data issued by the Texas and Humanitarian Services Committee (HHSC) on Friday shows that 3,1012 patients are not documented by the emergency department visit or were emptied as an internal patient in November, which costs the state more than $ 121 million. HHSC has provided a little context for these numbers, so it is not clear the total share of patients who were not documented.
A similar law in Florida requires hospitals in that state to collect the same information. Data issued by Florida Health Care Management Agency It indicates that in 2024, only 0.76 % of patients who do not carry themselves were determined as not documented, while 92.5 % said they are either American citizens or in the country legally. About 6.7 % of patients refused to answer the question.
While hospitals in Texas are asked to ask each patient their migration condition, patients are not asked to answer. In addition, hospitals should inform patients that responding to the question will not affect their care.
However, the groups of immigrant lawyers are concerned about the impact of the executive command. The American Civil Liberties Union in Texas previously told KXAN that it is concerned that the matter will be not documented by the non -documented medical care.
“This request should not affect anyone’s access to care – the period,” said David Donati, chief employee of the American Civil Liberties Union in Texas. “Whether you are born in a citizen, an American citizen, or an immigrant, whatever your situation should be, you should be able to reach the health care you need, and the facility should not have the ability to prevent you from receiving this type of care. This is quite clear as the issue of the Federal Law.”
Texas has the highest insured rate in the country by 17 % – more than twice the national average. Five million Texas do not have insurance as of 2022,The Texas Hospital Association (Tha) was mentioned.In 2023, hospitals provided more than $ 8.1 billion of “charitable care” to unconfirmed persons, with no compensation for more than $ 3 billion.
However, most of the non -insured Texas are citizens. While 1.6 million illegal immigrants live in Texas, they go to the hospital at lower rates of American citizens and make up a minority of the burden of unbelievable cost on state hospitals,Texas Tribune mentioned.
Hospitals are required to report data to HHSC every quarter, and the first group of data is due by March 1, 2025. As part of the executive order, the data will be reported annually, starting next year, to the ruler, the inherent ruler and Speaker of the House of Representatives.