Gov. Abbott of Texas Tells Hospitals to Get Information From Patients About Their Legal Status and Send It to the State
Thursday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed an order that hospitals must ask patients about their legal status. This is to help the state figure out how much it costs to treat people who are not citizens.
Abbott is telling hospitals in Texas to start collecting information on “patients who are not lawfully present in the United States” as of November 1. The hospitals will need to know how many inpatient discharges and emergency visits there were, as well as how much the care cost.
The order said that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission had to give regular reports to the state government.
Abbott talked about the large number of people coming to Texas from Mexico. He said they make the Texas health care system work harder and raise “the costs of medical care for all Texans.”
He said in a statement, “Because of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ open border policies, Texas has had to pay for the medical bills of people who are in the state illegally.”
In his speech, Abbott said that the state shouldn’t have to “shoulder the burden” of paying for noncitizens’ medical care. The order makes it sound like the state will ask the federal government to pay for the hospital bills.
“That’s why I issued an Executive Order today making sure that illegal immigrants in our state pay for their own health care,” he said. “Texas will hold the Biden-Harris Administration responsible for the open border policies that hurt our state, and we will fight to make sure they pay Texas back for these dangerous and expensive policies.”
CBS News said that Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) spoke out against the order and said that Abbott was trying to turn doctors into “ICE officers.”
People who fight for immigration rights are expected to challenge the executive order. There was a call to the White House from The Hill.