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- cross-posted to:
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered hospitals to gather data on the immigration status of patients, arguing Texas has had to “foot the bill” for the Biden administration’s border policies.
Under the executive order, hospitals will have to compile statistics on inpatient discharges and emergency visits by undocumented migrants, as well as on the cost of caring for them.
Opponents say the order will lead to racial profiling and deter migrants from seeking help.
How do they expect hospitals to know someone’s citizenship status? I’ve been using a union clinic for years so I don’t know for sure how regular hospitals work, but it’s not like they refuse service if you don’t have ID, right?
Yes, they are required to treat anyone, regardless of status. EMTALA.
For your first question, we know and if not directly told, sometimes we have high suspicions. I employ social workers who directly ask what their social situation is (housed, finances, etc) and for any uninsured we ask if they would like Medicaid. More often than not they disclose (CA is a lot friendlier than TX) and we document it and find the appropriate resources for them. If they dont tell us, we dont document our suspicions (because we cannot objectively confirm) but we can def tell. They tend to speak another language only, be very guarded with their questions, etc. We often have Chinese and Hispanic individuals undocumented. We connect them to MediCal, PRUCOL, and treat them like anyone else, providing them as much support and resources as possible.
I’m not sure how forthcoming they are in Texas but im very positive these Texas hospitals also know which active and prior patients are undocumented if that information is disclosed. It is not difficult to search charts.