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Taylor eyes indigent health care reform, says 'foreigners' who can pay for healthcare 'should not get a free ride'
By Marthe Stinton, mstinton@acnpapers.com
AUSTIN - After a legislative session full of indigent health care discussions and the costs associated with it, the state of Texas can breath a sigh of relief.
Representative Van Taylor, (R-Plano) wrote two pieces of legislation -- House Bill 420 and Senate Bill 7 -- aimed at revitalizing and reorganizing indigent health care costs and funding dispersing.
Collin County alone spent more than $3 million on indigent health care last year and the numbers across the state saw a steady increase.
House Bill 420 was the first to pass and allows county governments to consider assets of the sponsor and the sponsor's spouse when considering whether or not someone is indigent, ensuring more funds can go to those who are truly indigent.
Sponsored aliens enter the country with the support of a sponsor who signs an I-34 affidavit promising they are willing and able to receive, maintain and support the person entering the country. Sponsors are also required to be able to deposit a bond to guarantee that said person will not become a public charge during their stay in the United States. But state law was not aligned with federal law and the income of sponsors was not considered when aliens applied for indigent health care -- causing the county to spend taxpayer dollars to care for those who may not be indigent.
His latest amendments, filed before the closed of last week's special session, aim to save the state millions in outdated or dilapidated health care programs on both state and local levels. It allows entities providing health care services to seek reimbursement from the sponsor of a legal immigrant.
"Only time will tell what the tens of millions in savings will be for other counties and districts across the state," he said. "It has become a serious problem of foreigners taking advantage of our system at the expense of Texas taxpayers."
Federal law already allows agencies providing public benefits to seek reimbursement from sponsors for any benefits that the legal immigrant receives. The amendments allow for the Health and Human Services Commissioner, public hospitals, and hospital districts to seek reimbursement from a sponsor after providing for services, according to a release.
"We have passed three different pieces addressing concerns at the county, hospital district and state level," Taylor said. "Each one of those was different and tailored to the individual needs of the program to make sure the taxpayers aren't paying for free healthcare for foreigners who can pay for their own. One of these pieces represents hundreds of thousands in savings for taxpayers in Collin County alone."
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