[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5248 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5248
To require hospitals participating in Medicaid or the Children's Health
Insurance Program to inquire whether a patient is a citizen or national
of the United States, or in a satisfactory immigration status, as part
of the patient admission and registration process, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 25, 2024
Mr. Lee (for himself, Mr. Schmitt, and Mr. Braun) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require hospitals participating in Medicaid or the Children's Health
Insurance Program to inquire whether a patient is a citizen or national
of the United States, or in a satisfactory immigration status, as part
of the patient admission and registration process, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Citizenship Verification in
Emergency Healthcare Act''.
SEC. 2. REQUIRING HOSPITALS TO INQUIRE WHETHER A PATIENT IS A CITIZEN
OR NATIONAL OF THE UNITED STATES, OR IN A SATISFACTORY
IMMIGRATION STATUS, AS A CONDITION FOR PARTICIPATION IN
MEDICAID AND THE CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Section 1902(kk) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1396a(kk)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (9) as paragraph (10); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (8), the following new
paragraph:
``(9) Requirement for hospitals.--
``(A) In general.--The State requires as a
condition for a hospital to be enrolled under the State
plan or under a waiver of the plan as a participating
provider that the hospital agree to--
``(i) as part of the hospital's patient
admission and registration process--
``(I) include on the hospital's
patient admission and registration
forms, a written provision requiring a
patient or the patient's representative
to state or indicate whether the
patient is a citizen or national of the
United States, and, if that individual
is not a citizen or national of the
United States, whether the individual
is in a satisfactory immigration
status; and
``(II) provide the patient or the
patient's representative with a written
statement that the response to the
provision required by clause (i) shall
not affect patient care or result in a
report of the patient's immigration
status to immigration authorities; and
``(ii) annually report to the Secretary--
``(I) the total dollar amount of
uncompensated care furnished by the
hospital to--
``(aa) all individuals who
are not citizens or nationals
of the United States; and
``(bb) all individuals
described in item (aa) who are
not lawfully residing in the
United States; and
``(II) the total amount of funds
received by the hospital under the
State plan or under a waiver of such
plan for providing medical assistance
for--
``(aa) the delivery of a
child whose parents are not
citizens or nationals of the
United States but are lawfully
residing in the United States;
and
``(bb) the emergency
delivery of a child whose
parents are not lawfully
residing in the United States
pursuant to section 1903(v).
``(B) Report to congress.--The Secretary annually
shall submit a report to Congress that includes the
most recent information reported to the Secretary by
hospitals under subparagraph (A)(ii).''.
(b) Limitation on Federal Financial Participation.--Paragraph (2)
of the first sentence of section 1903(i) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1396b(i)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``or'' after the
semicolon; and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following new
subparagraph:
``(F) with respect to any amount expended for such
an item or service furnished during calendar quarters
beginning on or after the date of enactment of this
subparagraph, by a hospital that does not comply with
the participating provider conditions required by
section 1902(kk)(9)(A); or''.
(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act or the amendments
made by this Act shall be construed as preventing a hospital or
hospital employee from reporting any patient to law enforcement,
regardless of citizenship or immigration status, for any suspected
criminal activity or waiving the hospital's or hospital employee's duty
to report under Federal or State law.
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