CMS REVERSES IMMIGRATION STATUS REPORTING REQUIREMENT
In a related story, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)have agreed NOT to require health care providers to ask about a patient’s citizenship status in the emergency room in order to receive federal funding under Section 1011 of the new Medicare Law(Federal Reimbursement of Emergency Health Services Furnished to Undocumented Aliens). Please alert your patients and constituents.
Background
Section 1011 of the Medicare Prescription drug law provides $250 million per year from FY05-FY08 to reimburse federally funded hospitals for providing emergency health services to undocumented immigrants. MA hospitals are slated to get about $2million per year based on the estimated number of undocumented immigrants in the state. The originally proposed implementation procedure required hospitals to document a patient's immigration status in order to qualify for federal reimbursement.
MIRA submitted comments to CMS on this issue stating that:
- Collecting citizenship/immigration information from immigrants in the emergency room adds to the fear immigrants have of going to the hospital.
- With this added fear in accessing health care, many immigrants, not just those who are undocumented, will be less likely to go to emergency rooms to seek medical treatment. Immigrants who are fearful of accessing health care will experience poor health outcomes for them and their families.
- The public health would also suffer.
- Verification of immigration status requirements represent an enormous administrative burden to hospitals and other providers.
In response to the comments from MIRA and many other organizations and health care providers across the country, CMS has decided not to force hospitals to collect individual immigration status information on emergency room patients.
In a letter issued on Friday, October 1, 2004 Dr. Scott McClellan, administrator of the CMS, stated that “new rules would soon be issued and providers will not be asked and should not ask about patient's citizenship status in order to receive payment under this program." Furthermore, CMS intends to use indirect, non-burdensome and provider-immigrant patient friendly eligibility methods to implement Section 1011. This commitment is an important step in helping hospitals provide critical healthcare to a vulnerable population.
-Adapted from e-mail of 10/6/0 4from Carly Burton, Policy Associate, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.