Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued an executive order instructing hospitals to report the treatment costs for illegal aliens so that he can send the bill to the federal government.
When signing the order on Thursday, Gov. Abbott asserted that Texans should not have to pay for the “reckless open border policies” of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Texans should not have to shoulder the burden of financially supporting medical care for illegal immigrants,” Abbott said in a statement.
The order states, “The federal government may and should be obligated to reimburse the State of Texas for the costs that its open-border policies have imposed on Texans, costs of which the State had no notice and which it could not have anticipated when agreeing to shared health funding mechanisms on the premise that the federal government would follow federal laws.”
It directs the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to require hospitals to document and report quarterly the cost of treating “patients who are not lawfully present in the United States.”
Beginning in January 2026, the agency will provide the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the Texas House with an annual report of costs.
Hospitals will not be refusing service to anyone based on their immigration status.
“Hospitals are required by law to provide life-saving treatment to anyone, regardless of ability to pay or status,” the Texas Hospital Association said in a statement.
