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Texas hospitals to start asking about citizenship
Starting next month, hospitals across the state will be required to collect information about how much it costs to care for uninsured, undocumented immigrants. FOX 4's Steven Dial takes a look at how that information will be used.
Texas hospitals as of Friday are now required to ask patients if they are United States citizens.
The move comes after an August executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott.
The first batch of data must be reported to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission no later than March 1, 2025, and continue to be reported quarterly.
"Increased expenditures for Texas hospitals providing medical care to individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States imposes burdens on the Texas healthcare system, including by predictably increasing the costs of medical care for all Texans," reads the executive order.
The order came at a time where illegal border crossings were high.
Texas leads the nation in uninsured residents, and most of them are citizens.
The Texas Hospital Association says one out of every six Texans do not have health insurance.
Texas hospitals provided $3 billion in uninsured care that is not reimbursed.
DFW Hospital Council officials said the order does not mean hospitals will refuse to care for non-citizens.
Since this summer, crossing numbers in Texas have dropped significantly. Primarily, due to Abbott's Operation Lone Star and an executive order from President Biden.
"Texas will hold the Biden-Harris Administration accountable for the consequences of their open border policies, and we will fight to ensure that they pay back Texas for their costly and dangerous policies," Abbott said in August.