“There will be consequences”: Texas governor threatens funding for children’s hospitals following doctor slams immigration question on patient form.

Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, has threatened to stop funding a children’s hospital if it doesn’t follow his executive order requiring treatment providers to ask patients about their legal status on intake paperwork.

Abbott posted on X in response to a doctor who claimed that patients were exempt from answering the citizenship question in a TikTok video that went viral.

Hello Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, this physician is endangering your Medicare and Medicaid coverage. [You] ought to think twice and maintain accurate documentation. Abbott stated in his statement that breaking the law in the Order would have repercussions.

An executive order issued on November 1 required public hospitals to gather information on the care they provide to undocumented immigrants in order to be reimbursed by the federal government.

Abbott said in a statement that Texas has been forced to pay for the medical care of those who are in the state illegally because of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ open border policies. It shouldn’t be the responsibility of Texans to pay for illegal immigrants’ medical care.

The order’s detractors contend that it would deter undocumented immigrants from obtaining medical attention for themselves or their children, who might be US citizens. Several people have criticized it, including Dr. Tony Pastor, an assistant professor at Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine and cardiologist at Texas Children’s Hospital. Before it was taken down, a video that Pastor posted on his TikTok page received over a million views.

He claimed in it that doctors were unhappy with the direction. He also said, “You should get health care if you’re sick,” encouraging everyone to seek medical attention regardless of their legal situation.

The speaker recommended that people not feel pressured to answer the question, according to MedPage Today. My second suggestion is that it would be fantastic if no one answered it, as this would seriously disrupt the data they are trying to find.

Pastor questioned the state’s choice to not extend Medicaid in a later video posted on his TikTok channel.

According to Mr. Cruz, the new rule that asks hospitals about their immigration status is being implemented in an attempt to gather information on the amount of money spent on unauthorized immigrants. My problem with it is that, if you genuinely cared about patients and money, why are we among the ten states that have rejected Medicaid expansion?

Additionally, Abbott’s directive requires hospitals to notify patients that answering such questions will not impact patient care, as required by federal law.

In an interview with local CBS affiliate KHOU, Pastor went into further detail about his views. He said that he finds it quite annoying because doctors don’t actually inquire about people’s backgrounds.

In essence, it separates a group of individuals and makes them fearful of going inside. He clarified that this marginalized minority is sicker when they seek medical attention later in life.

He continued by saying that the nation’s politics shouldn’t affect how patients are treated.

Pastor advised me that we should only treat patients according to evidence-based treatment, not what politicians say.

Texas Children’s Hospital sent the following comment following Abbott’s X post.

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