Emergency Room Requirement to Check Patients’ Immigration Status Detracts from Medical Care

Washington, DC – The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., expressed deep concern over a Bush Administration proposal which requires hospitals – starting today – to determine the immigration status of patients seeking emergency services.

“We strongly support reimbursing hospitals for uncompensated care, but this proposal will be deeply disruptive to the actual work that hospitals must do. When emergency services personnel have to obtain information on immigration status from people who are sick or injured, this diverts precious resources away from caring for patients and could potentially cause widespread fear in immigrant communities,” said Janet Murguia, President and CEO of NCLR.

Issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the final notice implements Section 1011 of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA), legislation which reimburses $1 billion to health care providers for uncompensated treatment given to certain immigrants. The original proposal, released last summer, was modified to reduce the number of questions asked by hospital personnel, yet still requires that doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals collect and maintain sensitive information to determine provider eligibility for repayment.

Murguia also noted NCLR’s concern that this proposal will result in unfair targeting of Latinos. “We are worried that some health care providers will only ask questions of racial and ethnic populations with higher percentages of immigrants, which could lead to racial profiling and civil rights violations.”

“Immigrants and their families, some of whom are U.S. citizens, will be confused about how this information will be used and, as a result, may avoid seeking care. Whenever a significant portion of our society is deterred from using the health care system, the public health of all Americans suffers,” concluded Murguia.

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