Wise County ends coverage for illegal immigrants by Chris Vaughn, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6/4/07
The Wise County Commissioners Court voted this week to deny indigent healthcare coverage to illegal immigrants, nearly three years after Tarrant County made the same move.
The decision was made, officials said, because the county cannot be reimbursed by the state for expenses related to illegal immigrants. The Wise County program had only one illegal immigrant enrolled.
Anyone with an emergency will still be treated as required by federal law.
"You have to be here legally to get it," Wise County Attorney Greg Lowery said. "If you're not legal, we're not going to provide nonemergency healthcare."
The indigent healthcare program is funded entirely by county taxpayers and assists low-income families that, for whatever reason, do not qualify for Medicaid or Medicare.
The program reimburses local physicians and clinics up to $30,000 per person per year. Between 50 and 100 people are enrolled in the program at any given time.
"It's a last-ditch effort for them," said Charles Dillard, the county's emergency medical services administrator, who also supervises the program. "If they don't qualify for any other program, then they can come to us."
After a county reaches a certain spending threshold, it can seek state reimbursement. But the state will not reimburse for the care of illegal immigrants.
That is why officials wanted to stop offering coverage now.
"We were getting more phone calls about illegal aliens to be put on the program," Dillard said.
