On Saturday, Florida hospitals start asking patients’ immigration status. Advocates call requirement ‘dangerous’

Starting Saturday, most Florida hospitals will start collecting data on patients’ immigration status, bucking advice from clinicians who warn this could deter sick people from seeking care.

A new law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May, SB 1718, requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to inquire about immigration status on patient admission forms. The hospitals are required to then de-identify this data and submit quarterly reports to the Agency for Healthcare Administration, which will calculate Florida’s annual cost of uncompensated care for people who live in the state illegally.

Health care providers from across the state have spoken out against this law, arguing it may deter people here illegally from seeking care until a condition is life-threatening, ultimately increasing emergency room visits and health care costs for the state.

“Deterring any segment of our population from seeking healthcare is not only dangerous and life threatening for individuals, but negatively impacts public health and undermines our efforts to improve the health of all …We should be doing all we can to encourage use of primary and preventive care, a far more efficient use of our overtaxed healthcare system,” reads a public letter signed by 80 health care providers prior to the law’s passage.

These providers also point out that Florida is facing widespread understaffing and burnout among medical professionals, like most states, and argue that this law’s administrative requirements will exacerbate that.

Despite outcries from advocates and individuals, however, hospital leaders have stayed silent. Florida Hospital Association President and CEO Mary Mayhew did not respond to a request for comment from the Orlando Sentinel, nor did representatives from Orlando Health or AdventHealth, the Central Florida region’s two largest hospital chains.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also declined to comment on Florida’s new requirements. Federal guidelines for states’ Medicaid programs are broad, giving Florida the freedom to make its own requirements for hospitals.

The law does not require people to answer the immigration section of their patient form in order to receive care.

It instructs hospitals to ensure their admission forms clarify immediately after asking patients’ immigration status that their answer will not impact their care or be shared with immigration authorities, who are generally not allowed to enforce immigration laws in health care facilities and other “sensitive areas.”

Even with these caveats, some worry that simply asking the question will drive patients away.

Alongside its requirements for hospitals, SB 1718 includes sweeping changes to the state’s immigration system, with measures labeled “draconian” by pastors, activists, health care providers and immigration experts.

These restrictions are creating a climate of fear in the state, said Drishti Pillai, director of immigrant health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

She said she is not aware of any other states with a law that requires hospitals to collect patients’ status.

“Increased fears among immigrants … will have some blood-chilling effects by leading immigrant families to avoid seeking health care not only for themselves, but also for their children who may include U.S.-born citizens, just out of fear of drawing attention to their immigration status,” Pillai said.

This is DeSantis’ second attempt to calculate the cost of providing health care to Florida’s undocumented immigrants.

In late 2021, he signed an executive order directing the state Agency for Health Care Administration to determine how much taxpayer money was spent on health care for “illegal aliens in the state of Florida.”

Unlike this new law, his initial order did not explicitly require hospitals to ask about immigration status on admission forms.

Most health care facilities didn’t collect the requested information, and were unable to produce the requested data, The Gainesville Sun reported last year.

Ccatherman@orlandosentinel.com; @CECatherman Twitter