As U.S. hospitals grapple with ways to lower the cost of care at their facilities while maintaining quality, some may be turning to "unlawful" deportations of immigrant patients.
A 56-page report from the Center for Social Justice at Seton Hall University School of Law and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest found that in the past six years, various organizations have documented more than 800 cases of attempted or successful "medical repatriations" — or when a hospital deports an ill or injured immigrant to another medical facility abroad without the patient's consent.
Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, hospitals must screen and treat all patients — regardless of immigration status or health coverage — for emergency care. When patients are stabilized, hospitals are technically no longer on the hook. However, the report said some hospitals are deporting immigrant patients after stabilization despite the fact the U.S. government is the only authority that can deport individuals.
Medical repatriation has long been considered a violation of human rights, according to the report, especially if hospitals are acting as "unauthorized immigration officers."
The groups said medical repatriation is likely to become a more common occurrence at U.S. hospitals under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Although more people will gain coverage under the law, undocumented immigrants will not. In addition, hospitals will be losing large sums of Medicaid disproportionate share hospital, or DSH, payments, which are distributed to hospitals that care for a larger volume of uninsured immigrants and Medicaid patients.
"Faced with the prospect of decreased DSH payments, many hospitals that regularly treat this patient population may resort to medical repatriation in an effort to offset the costs of providing post-acute care to undocumented immigrants," the report said.
Currently, the American Hospital Association does not track hospitals that remove or relocate immigrant patients. The American Medical Association has, however, encouraged better policy and care for immigrant populations in the past. The Center for Social Justice and NYLPI urged that HHS track medical repatriations and impose sanctions on hospitals that perform "involuntary" medical repatriations.
A 56-page report from the Center for Social Justice at Seton Hall University School of Law and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest found that in the past six years, various organizations have documented more than 800 cases of attempted or successful "medical repatriations" — or when a hospital deports an ill or injured immigrant to another medical facility abroad without the patient's consent.
Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, hospitals must screen and treat all patients — regardless of immigration status or health coverage — for emergency care. When patients are stabilized, hospitals are technically no longer on the hook. However, the report said some hospitals are deporting immigrant patients after stabilization despite the fact the U.S. government is the only authority that can deport individuals.
Medical repatriation has long been considered a violation of human rights, according to the report, especially if hospitals are acting as "unauthorized immigration officers."
The groups said medical repatriation is likely to become a more common occurrence at U.S. hospitals under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Although more people will gain coverage under the law, undocumented immigrants will not. In addition, hospitals will be losing large sums of Medicaid disproportionate share hospital, or DSH, payments, which are distributed to hospitals that care for a larger volume of uninsured immigrants and Medicaid patients.
"Faced with the prospect of decreased DSH payments, many hospitals that regularly treat this patient population may resort to medical repatriation in an effort to offset the costs of providing post-acute care to undocumented immigrants," the report said.
Currently, the American Hospital Association does not track hospitals that remove or relocate immigrant patients. The American Medical Association has, however, encouraged better policy and care for immigrant populations in the past. The Center for Social Justice and NYLPI urged that HHS track medical repatriations and impose sanctions on hospitals that perform "involuntary" medical repatriations.
More Articles on Hospitals and Immigrants:
Medicaid Expansion Still Leaves Safety-Net Hospitals With Uninsured Immigrants
Immigration Reform: Where Do Hospitals and Health Benefits Fit?
OIG Finds Medicare Wrongly Paid $125.2M to Inmates, Illegal Immigrants