A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 44-7-55 SO AS TO REQUIRE CERTAIN hospitals TO COLLECT DATA ON the IMMIGRATION STATUS of patients, to require hospitals to report such information to the DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND environmental CONTROl and the department to report annually to the governor and general assembly on the data, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1.  Article 1, Chapter 7, Title 44 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

    Section 44-7-55. (A) Each hospital that accepts Medicaid must include a provision on its patient admission or registration forms for the patient or the patient's representative to state or indicate whether the patient is a United States citizen or lawfully present in the United States or is not lawfully present in the United States. The inquiry must be followed by a statement that the response will not affect patient care or result in a report of the patient's immigration status to immigration authorities.

    (B) Each hospital must submit a quarterly report to the department within thirty days after the end of each calendar quarter which reports the number of hospital admissions or emergency department visits within the previous quarter which were made by a patient who indicated that the patient was a citizen of the United States or lawfully present in the United States, was not lawfully present in the United States, or declined to answer.

    (C) By March first of each year, the department shall submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives which includes the total number of hospital admissions and emergency department visits for the previous calendar year for which the patient or patient's representative reported that the patient was a citizen of the United States or lawfully present in the United States, was not lawfully present in the United States, or declined to answer. The report must also describe information relating to the costs of uncompensated care for aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States, the impact of uncompensated care on the cost or ability of hospitals to provide services to the public, hospital funding needs, and other related information.

    (D) The department may promulgate regulations relating to the format and information to be contained in quarterly reports and the acceptable formats for hospitals to use in requesting information regarding a patient's immigration status on hospital admission or registration forms. The regulations may not require the disclosure of patient names or any other personal identifying information to the department.

SECTION 2.  This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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