Latest news with #Olcott
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill requiring Texas hospitals to report the citizenship status of patients killed in House
A Republican-backed measure that would have forced Texas hospitals to report each year how many undocumented immigrants they treat failed to make it through the House Tuesday night following a successful parliamentary challenge from a Democratic lawmaker. Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered hospitals to begin asking and counting patients who were lawfully in the United States, following a similar move by Florida. Late Tuesday, the Texas House was set to vote on state Rep. Mike Olcott's House Bill 2587, which would have codified Abbott's order into law, resulting in an annual report to the Texas Legislature on the estimated cost to hospitals for caring for immigrants who are not lawfully residing in the United States. But state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, successfully blocked the bill, by raising a 'point of order' because the caption describing the bill did not reflect what the bill was about. The caption describes it as 'relating to an annual report on the financial impact on hospitals for providing certain uncompensated care.' But the bill specifically requires hospitals to begin asking patients on a regular basis, if they are lawfully in the United States. Hospitals would then calculate that cost to treat that patient and submit those totals to Texas Health and Human Services, which would produce the annual report. Upon review, the point of order was approved and the bill is now technically dead. However, Olcott could resurrect it as an amendment to another measure. The Senate does not have a similar bill. Olcott did not immediately respond to questions about his next move for the measure. Last year, Abbott became the second governor in the nation to order hospitals receiving Medicaid funding for a head count of patients they treated who were not lawfully in the United States. Last month, the state reported that Texas hospitals spent nearly $122 million for the month of November on patients who were not lawfully in the United States. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Associated Press
22-04-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Early Texas hospital data shows millions spent in care for non-U.S. citizens
Preliminary data shows that 'tens of thousands' of patients who were not 'lawfully' in the United States were treated by Texas hospitals in recent months and the cost for their care is in the millions of dollars, according to a state employee testifying before lawmakers late Monday. Gov. Greg Abbottordered Texas hospitals last summer to begin asking all patients to disclose whether they were 'lawfully in the United States.' Patients were told their answers would not jeopardize their access to health care but they were not legally required to answer. Hospitals were expected to turn in their first months of data by March 1 but it has not been released publicly yet. But during a House Public Health Committee hearing on a bill from state Rep. Mike Olcott, R-Fort Worth, that would formalize Abbott's order into a regular annual report each year, a Texas Health and Human Services Commission executive answered lawmakers' questions about what the agency has learned so far from the 558 Texas hospitals that have responded to Abbott's order. 'The number of visits was in the thousands, the tens of thousands, and the costs were in the millions,' said Victoria Grady, director of provider finance at HHSC, 'We should be finalizing the data by the end of the week.' Several media outlets, including The Texas Tribune, have asked for the data following the hospitals' first March 1 deadline set by Abbott's office. Grady and Olcott detailed why there's been such a delay in getting that first snapshot out into the public view. 'They actually got some data on like pieces of paper,' Olcott told committee members. Grady confirmed that the agency has had to, on occasion, manually input data on paper that was mailed into the agency from some hospitals into a spreadsheet. She also said she expects the data to be released by the agency later this week. Abbott's order told hospitals to begin collecting information in November 2024. But it's not clear if the data collected by the 558 hospitals was just for that month or all months since then Olcott said his bill, like one already passed in 2023 in Florida, is necessary because it would streamline the survey process and keep Texans informed about how their tax dollars were spent. 'Since 2005, we've had 181 small rural hospitals close primarily due to uncompensated care,' Olcott said. 'The goal of this is simply to know what percentage of that uncompensated care are due to people here illegally.' According to the Texas Hospital Association, hospitals in this state spend $3.1 billion a year on uninsured care that is not reimbursed. But a large portion of that is for American citizens who are uninsured in Texas. The state has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents in the nation, with more than 4 million without health insurance coverage. Lynn Cowles, health and food justice programs manager at Every Texan, which advocates for better health care in Texas, testified on that fact. 'I think one of the big issues with this bill –– if it is intended to understand the problems of rural hospitals closing across the state –– is that the pool of uncompensated care is so large because of the amount of citizens who are uninsured in Texas,' Cowles said. ___ This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Early Texas hospital data shows millions spent in care for non-U.S. citizens
Preliminary data shows that 'tens of thousands' of patients who were not 'lawfully' in the United States were treated by Texas hospitals in recent months and the cost for their care is in the millions of dollars, according to a state employee testifying before lawmakers late Monday. Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texas hospitals last summer to begin asking all patients to disclose whether they were 'lawfully in the United States.' Patients were told their answers would not jeopardize their access to health care but they were not legally required to answer. Hospitals were expected to turn in their first months of data by March 1 but it has not been released publicly yet. But during a House Public Health Committee hearing on a bill from state Rep. Mike Olcott, R-Fort Worth, that would formalize Abbott's order into a regular annual report each year, a Texas Health and Human Services Commission executive answered lawmakers' questions about what the agency has learned so far from the 558 Texas hospitals that have responded to Abbott's order. 'The number of visits was in the thousands, the tens of thousands, and the costs were in the millions,' said Victoria Grady, director of provider finance at HHSC, 'We should be finalizing the data by the end of the week.' Several media outlets, including The Texas Tribune, have asked for the data following the hospitals' first March 1 deadline set by Abbott's office. Grady and Olcott detailed why there's been such a delay in getting that first snapshot out into the public view. 'They actually got some data on like pieces of paper,' Olcott told committee members. Grady confirmed that the agency has had to, on occasion, manually input data on paper that was mailed into the agency from some hospitals into a spreadsheet. She also said she expects the data to be released by the agency later this week. Abbott's order told hospitals to begin collecting information in November 2024. But it's not clear if the data collected by the 558 hospitals was just for that month or all months since then Olcott said his bill, like one already passed in 2023 in Florida, is necessary because it would streamline the survey process and keep Texans informed about how their tax dollars were spent. 'Since 2005, we've had 181 small rural hospitals close primarily due to uncompensated care,' Olcott said. 'The goal of this is simply to know what percentage of that uncompensated care are due to people here illegally.' According to the Texas Hospital Association, hospitals in this state spend $3.1 billion a year on uninsured care that is not reimbursed. But a large portion of that is for American citizens who are uninsured in Texas. The state has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents in the nation, with more than 4 million without health insurance coverage. Lynn Cowles, health and food justice programs manager at Every Texan, which advocates for better health care in Texas, testified on that fact. 'I think one of the big issues with this bill –– if it is intended to understand the problems of rural hospitals closing across the state –– is that the pool of uncompensated care is so large because of the amount of citizens who are uninsured in Texas,' Cowles said. Disclosure: Every Texan and Texas Hospital Association have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
