[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2256 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2256
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a 5-year pilot
program under which health care providers are reimbursed by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services for the costs associated with
providing emergency medical care to aliens who are not lawfully present
in the United States and are not detained by any law enforcement
authority, and for other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 20, 2001
Mr. Kolbe introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on
the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a 5-year pilot
program under which health care providers are reimbursed by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services for the costs associated with
providing emergency medical care to aliens who are not lawfully present
in the United States and are not detained by any law enforcement
authority, 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 ``Border Hospital Survival and Illegal
Immigrant Care Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Immigration is a Federal responsibility.
(2) The Immigration and Naturalization Service does not
take into custody all aliens who are unlawfully present in the
United States.
(3) Section 1867 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395dd) and State laws require that, if any individual (whether
or not lawfully present in the United States) comes to a
hospital and the hospital determines that the individual has an
emergency medical condition, the hospital must provide either,
within the staff and facilities available at the hospital, for
such further medical examination and such treatment as may be
required to stabilize the medical condition, or, if
appropriate, for transfer of the individual to another medical
facility.
(4) The Southwest border region is ill-equipped to absorb
the expense of providing health care to undocumented aliens
because it ranks last in the country in terms of per capita
income.
(5) The Southwest border region has been designated as a
health professional shortage area under section 332 of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e).
(6) The unreimbursed costs associated with caring for
undocumented aliens are severely threatening the financial
stability of health care providers in Arizona.
SEC. 3. REIMBURSEMENT TO HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL
CARE RENDERED TO CERTAIN ALIENS.
Section 322 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 249) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(d)(1) The Secretary shall establish and implement a 5-year pilot
program under which funds made available under paragraph (6) are used
to reimburse providers for items and services described in section
411(b)(1) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1621(b)(1)) provided in Arizona to
aliens described in paragraph (3), and to reimburse suppliers of
emergency ambulance services furnished to such aliens for which the
transportation originates in Arizona (where the use of other methods of
transportation is contraindicated by the alien's condition), if payment
may not be made to reimburse the provider or supplier under any Federal
program or law other than this subsection (such as title XIX of the
Social Security Act), any State or local program or law, any group or
individual health plan, or any insurance policy.
``(2) As part of the pilot program, in a case in which an alien
described in paragraph (3) arrived at a hospital in Arizona and the
hospital provided for such medical examination and treatment of the
alien as the hospital determined was required to stabilize an emergency
medical condition (within the meaning of section 1867(e)(1) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395dd(e)(1))), the Secretary shall use
funds made available under paragraph (6) to reimburse the hospital for
any transportation costs paid by the hospital to return the alien to
the United States border, if--
``(A) the hospital requested the Attorney General to take
the alien into custody after such stabilization;
``(B) such request was denied within 24 hours after its
receipt, or the Attorney General gave no response to it within
such period; and
``(C) the hospital determined that discharging the alien
without providing for such transportation might pose a threat
to the health or safety of the alien (or, with respect to a
pregnant alien, the health or safety of the alien or her unborn
child).
``(3) An alien is described in this paragraph if the alien--
``(A) is not lawfully present in the United States and not
detained by any Federal, State, or local law enforcement
authority; or
``(B) is paroled into the United States under section
212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1182(d)(5)) for less than one year in order to receive
treatment for an emergency medical condition.
``(4) During the period in which the pilot program is operating,
the Secretary shall submit annual reports to the Congress on its
operation. Each report shall contain at least the following
information:
``(A) The number of aliens to whom assistance was rendered
for which payment was made under this subsection during the
previous year.
``(B) The nationality of such aliens.
``(C) The average cost per alien of such assistance.
``(D) The total annual amount paid to each provider or
supplier of assistance.
``(E) The feasibility and estimated cost of expanding the
pilot program to items and services provided anywhere in the
Southwest border region of the United States.
``(5) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize
any reduction in the funds payable to any person under any Federal
program or law other than this subsection (such as title XIX of the
Social Security Act), any State or local program or law, any group or
individual health plan, or any insurance policy.
``(6) To the extent provided in appropriations Acts, from amounts
made available to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for
enforcement and border affairs for each of the 5 fiscal years following
the fiscal year in which the Border Hospital Survival and Illegal
Immigrant Care Act is enacted, the Attorney General may transfer to the
Health Resources and Services Administration of the Department of
Health and Human Services such amounts as may be necessary to carry out
this subsection, not to exceed $50,000,000 for each such year.''.
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