MCH speaks on Abbott’s executive order requiring hospitals to ask about patients’ immigration status

ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- A new requirement issued by Governor Greg Abbott through an executive order is making its way to every hospital in the Lone Star State. The order? Collecting and reporting the immigration status of patients who receive healthcare. Now, advocates, government officials, and local hospitals across the state are discussing how this order might affect healthcare, including Medical Center Hospital in Odessa.

On August 8th, 2024, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued Executive Order No. GA-46.

The order states that beginning November 1, 2024, hospitals across Texas ( including any acute care hospitals enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, as well as additional providers identified by the HHSC ) will collect the immigration status of patients and file quarterly data reports starting on March 1st, 2025 to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC).

The goal, according to Governor Abbott, is to track the costs of healthcare for patients, inpatient discharges, and emergency visits of those who are undocumented migrants and bill the federal government because “Texans ultimately bear the costs associated with public financial support.”

On the Office of the Texas Governor site , Abbott issued a statement following the order’s release, saying “Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants— That is why today I issued an Executive Order requiring the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to collect and report healthcare costs for illegal immigrants in our state.”

As Governor Greg Abbott plans to seek reimbursement from the federal government with the Executive Order, concerns regarding patient privacy and a potential distrust in Texas healthcare systems have circulated across the state.

In the Executive Order No. GA-46, Abbott stated that the collected information will not affect patient care, however, according to the ACLU Texas policy and advocacy strategists, despite the care remaining the same, there are still concerns about how the order could potentially deter immigrants who may be afraid to seek out medical care following this new collection of data.

In response to these circulating concerns, local hospitals and Texas healthcare providers are reviewing Executive Order No. GA-46 to learn more about the new data collection requirement– including officials at Medical Center Hospital.

Russell Tippin, President and CEO of Medical Center Hospital (MCH) in Odessa shared how the local hospitals have responded to the order.

“I think this new order has raised a lot of questions,” Tippin said, adding that the MCH legal team will travel to Austin on Thursday, August 23 to address the questions and concerns surrounding Abbott’s new requirements.

“Us (MCH) along with Midland and other hospitals in the Permian Basin are traveling there because there is some good information that we need to collect,” Tippin said. “We want to be crystal clear on what’s expected from us. We want to give accurate information and we want to give timely information- but we need to make sure we know exactly what we’re being asked for and how to report it.”

Regarding the concerns surrounding how the Executive Order could potentially deter potential patients from receiving healthcare, Tippin with MCH said, “We don’t want to do anything to deter that because we want sick people to be better. At the same time, we don’t want the burden to be on the local taxpayer either. We want to make sure that whatever funding is out there to keep people in Odessa and Ector County- to keep their taxes and costs low, that we take advantage of those to protect our local taxpayer.”

According to Tippin, the local hospital is aware of the costs associated with taxpayer money regarding uninsured healthcare.

“We know that it costs the local taxpayer money to have these type of patients and we want to make sure that we’re doing what’s right by our taxpayers,” Tippin said. “I can tell you that the uninsured and underinsured in Ector County and in the Permian Basin are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. – We watch every dime that goes in and out with that, and we do our best to recapture everything we can.”

Overall, Tippin said MCH’s goal at the end of the day is the same regardless of the new requirements.

“Our mission at Medical Center is to provide top-notch health care for anybody regardless of their ability to pay. That’s our mission. That’s what we want to do,” Tippin said. “Our first thought is how can we make you better? Do we take care of the rest after that? But it is a lot. And it’s a lot on the local taxpayer and honestly every taxpayer in the state of Texas.”

“Somebody is paying for it, whether that’s the local taxpayer or the statewide taxpayer, but at the same time if there’s federal funds available to relieve that local burden, then the state of Texas needs to get a hold of that and push it down to these local hospitals so your people in town can have a little bit of a break while we take care of the sick people,” Tippin said.

“We want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem,” Tippin stated.  “Whatever we can provide the governor to give him, you know, good numbers to work to help keep our local taxes low and our state taxes low, we’re all for that.”

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