The Texas Health and Human Services Board (HHSC) said that in November alone, Texas taxpayers paid nearly $122 million to provide medical care to illegal immigrants.
The Texas HSHC reports that state costs for health care for illegal immigrants exceeded $118.8 million of unpaid care in November alone. And the estimate is probably low.
In that report, the HHSC reported that non-citizens used hospitals in Lone Star State over 31,000 times last November.
The data was obtained from the state’s new reporting requirements mandated by an executive order that came into effect last August.
“The executive order directs Texas hospitals to provide an HHSC quarterly report on patients that are not legally present in the United States,” the report said.
However, the data is based on the number of patients answering questions about immigration status regarding hospital intake forms, and some immigrants do not answer the questions, so cost estimates are likely low.
Still, this is the first report of its kind in Texas, with annual totals approaching $1.46 billion per year if the months are similar in the future.
Reporting requirements are similar to Florida law, requiring hospitals to report the number of uninsured immigrants seen each month.
One recent report in Florida found that illegal immigrants cost the state $660 million for the unpaid medical expenses that immigrants incurred.
When he signed his executive order last August, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said “The Texans shouldn’t need to put bills to health care for illegal immigrants.”
Despite reporting requirements in both Florida and Texas, immigrants are not denied medical services.
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