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Tanuki

(15,310 posts) Fri Nov 15, 2024, 07:43 PM Friday

Doctors react to TX rule requiring them to ask about immigration status

Last edited Fri Nov 15, 2024, 09:20 PM - Edit history (1)

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/112907?xid=nl_mpt_Neurology_update_2024-11-15&mh=a2cae01907507c09e9666a382ca08a61?xid%3Dnl_mpt_Neurology_update_2024-11-15&mh=a2cae01907507c09e9666a382ca08a61&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Automated%20Specialty%20Update%20Neurology%20BiWeekly%20FRIDAY%202024-11-15&utm_term=NL_Spec_Neurology_Update_Active

"A new Texas rule that requires hospitals to ask patients about immigration status has raised concern about further straining trust between physicians and their patients, according to experts who spoke with MedPage Today.

"As a doctor who has chosen to work in safety net hospitals, which are designed to care for those who have nowhere else to go, it's a concerning rule for me," Brian Williams, MD, a trauma surgeon in Dallas who has runopens in a new tab or window as a Democratic congressional candidate in the state, told MedPage Today. "It may erode trust between the healthcare establishment and many of the patients in the state of Texas."

The rule, which went into effect on Nov. 1, requires hospitals in Texas that receive Medicaid or Children's Health Insurance Program funding to ask patients whether they are in the U.S. legally. It also requires those hospitals to track the cost of treating patients who do not have legal status.

However, patients can decline to provide information on their legal status, and hospital employees must tell patients that their response will not affect the care they receive, which is a federal requirement.

"As a doctor, any patient's immigration status is irrelevant to me," Williams said. "If they come to me and they're sick and they need care, I'm going to provide that care."

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced the executive order in August, which appears to be modeled on a law implemented in Florida last yearopens in a new tab or window, according to the Associated Press."....(more)