Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Health Data Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sponsor seeks hospital data on patient immigration status; members flag administrative and accuracy questions
Summary
RS 33,186 would require hospitals taking Medicaid payments to add a self-report immigration-status item on admission forms and submit quarterly counts by status to the Department of Health and Welfare; committee members asked hospitals be invited to testify on administrative burden and questioned accuracy and redundancy.
Representative Jordan Redmond told the committee RS 33,186 is "simply a data reporting transparency mechanism" that would require hospitals accepting Medicaid to add a three-box self-report on admission forms indicating U.S. citizen, lawfully present, or not lawfully present, and to submit quarterly reports to the Department of Health and Welfare summarizing admissions and emergency visits by those categories.
Redmond said the department would compile an annual report for the legislature and governor that would include usage and uncompensated care for unlawfully present individuals. "This is simply a data reporting transparency mechanism," he said.
Committee members raised implementation questions. Representative Josh Wheeler asked that hospital representatives be invited to a full hearing to explain potential administrative costs and whether those costs might be passed to Medicaid. Representative Egbert asked why the committee would collect immigration-status data when some undocumented patients pay self-pay, and whether the bill aims to capture utilization beyond uncompensated care. Representative Fuhrman questioned the reliability of voluntary self-reporting and whether the reporting would duplicate existing information in Medicaid or Health and Welfare systems; Redmond replied that the specific tracking is not currently done and this would enable that measurement.
The committee voted to introduce RS 33,186; the motion carried. Redmond and other members agreed to invite hospital representatives to a future full hearing to discuss administrative burden and data collection details.
