Left: Dr. Tony Pastor (TikTok). Right: Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, speaks during the Republican National Convention Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee (AP Photo/Paul Sancya).
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to take away funding from a children’s hospital if it fails to follow his executive order requiring medical care facilities to ask patients about their immigration status on intake forms.
Abbott made the post on X in response to a doctor’s viral video on TikTok telling patients they were under no obligation to answer the citizenship question.
“Hey Texas Children’s Hospital & Baylor College of Medicine this doctor is putting your Medicaid & Medicare funding at risk. [You] better think twice & have crystal clear records. There will be consequences for failing to follow the law in the Order,” Abbott said in the post.
An executive order which went into effect on Nov. 1 requires public hospitals to collect data on how much care they provide to undocumented immigrants so the state can request reimbursement from the federal government.
“Due to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ open border policies, Texas has had to foot the bill for medical costs for individuals illegally in the state,” Abbott said in a statement. “Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants.”
But critics of the order say it could have a chilling effect on undocumented immigrants from seeking care for themselves or for their children who may be U.S. citizens. Among the critics is Dr. Tony Pastor, a cardiologist at Texas Children’s Hospital and assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Pastor posted a video on his TikTok page that went viral with over 1 million views before it was taken down.
In it, he said the order has made doctors “uncomfortable.” He also urged people to seek medical treatment regardless of immigration status, saying “you should get health care if you’re sick.”
“So, my proposal to everyone … is just know that you do not have to answer this question,” he said, according to MedPage Today. “And my second sort of proposal is, wouldn’t it be amazing if everyone who comes in doesn’t answer it, and it really messes with whatever data that they’re looking for?”
In a subsequent video on his TikTok page, Pastor questioned the state’s decision not to expand Medicaid.
“This new law that is asking hospitals about immigration status is under the guise of trying to get data on how much money we’re spending on undocumented immigrants,” he said. “The reason I have an issue with that is if you really truly cared about patients and spending and both in Texas, then why are we one of 10 states that is not accepted Medicaid expansion?”
Abbott’s order also requires hospitals “to inform the patient that federal law mandates that any response to such questions will not affect patient care.”
Pastor expanded on his views in an interview with local CBS affiliate KHOU. He said it was “very frustrating” to him because doctors “don’t really ask people where they come from.”
“It is basically isolating a group of people and making people scared to come in. It is a marginalized group that in general seeks health care out later, and they are sicker when they do come in,” he said.
He went on to say patient care should be “immune from politics of the nation.”
“We should just be taking care of patients based on evidenced-based care and not based on what politicians dictate,” Pastor stated.
After Abbott’s X post, Texas Children’s Hospital issued the following statement.
Texas Children’s fully supports Governor Abbott’s new Executive Order and is in full compliance. We have worked closely with the Texas Hospital Association and our industry partners across the state to ensure compliance in advance of the effective date. While we recognize that individuals working at Texas Children’s hold their own personal views on many topics, those opinions do not necessarily reflect the official position of Texas Children’s Hospital. We will continue to prioritize patient care while ensuring we are in full compliance with all laws and legal directives.
