RI hospitals will not accept grants for care of immigrants
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, October 11, 2004
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Three Rhode Island hospitals-Rhode Island, Miriam, and Newport hospitals-plan to refuse federal funding that would help pay for care of illegal immigrants. They will turn down the money because to use it, the hospitals will have to document each patient's citizen status, reported the Providence Journal.
"Hospitals are caregivers, not police officers, not border-control agents," American Hospital Association spokesman David Allen told the paper. "We don't want people not to come for care for fear of being reported or deported."
Draft guidelines state that hospitals, physicians, or ambulance companies that want federal reimbursement for treating undocumented immigrants must get acceptable evidence of the patient's illegal status such as an invalid driver's license or a foreign passport, according to the paper.
Until the release of final guidelines, HIPAA's role in this process will remain unclear. However, Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Bill Pierce told the Providence Journal that regardless of final guidelines, any information that becomes part of a patient's medical record will be subject to HIPAA requirements and will remain confidential.
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