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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo criticizes Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order requiring all state hospitals to ask patients if they are lawfully in the United States and to track the cost of treating persons without legal status.
The order became effective on Friday, November 1st.
Critics are concerned that the change could potentially deter individuals from seeking medical assistance at hospitals in Texas. However, it’s important to note that patients are not obliged to provide answers to the questions in order to receive the necessary medical care. Texas hospitals have been diligently preparing for this transition and have made efforts to reassure patients that their quality of care will not be compromised.
Hidalgo issued a statement on Friday, expressing her concern that the order would unfairly stigmatize immigrants and have little actual impact on the community.
Residents in Harris County can rest assured that the quality of care for patients will remain unchanged, regardless of their immigration status.
Hidalgo shared her complete statement below:
“Governor Abbott’s executive order going into effect today is meant to further demonize immigrants, but in reality will not have a significant impact on our community. Executive Order GA-46 requires hospitals to collect information on undocumented patients receiving care, but the fact of the matter is that public and private hospitals throughout Texas and every other state have already been collecting this data since the ‘90s so they can get reimbursed by the federal government.
“The only difference is now, Texas hospitals will be required to send the data to the state government as well. Most importantly, there’s no personal identifiable information in the data that hospitals send. I want folks to know that nothing will change about the quality of care that patients in Harris County receive. All patients, regardless of immigration status, can feel comfortable continuing to seek medical care.
“Furthermore, as has always been the case, patients are entitled to simply refuse to answer the question about their legal status.”
