Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding patient immigration status data collection.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 592 BY HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO PATIENT IMMIGRATION STATUS; AMENDING CHAPTER 13, TITLE 39, IDAHO2 CODE, BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 39-1397, IDAHO CODE, TO ESTAB-3 LISH PROVISIONS REGARDING PATIENT IMMIGRATION STATUS DATA COLLECTION4 AND TO DEFINE A TERM; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EFFEC-5 TIVE DATE.6

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:7

SECTION 1. That Chapter 13, Title 39, Idaho Code, be, and the same is8 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-9 ignated as Section 39-1397, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:10 39-1397. PATIENT IMMIGRATION STATUS DATA COLLECTION. (1) Every hospi-11 tal that accepts medicaid shall include a provision on its patient admission12 or registration forms for the patient or the patient's representative to13 state or indicate the immigration status of the patient, including whether14 the patient is a United States citizen or lawfully present in the United15 States or is not lawfully present in the United States. The inquiry shall16 be followed by a statement that the response will not affect patient care17 or result in a report of the patient's immigration status to immigration18 authorities.19 (2) Every hospital shall submit a quarterly report to the Idaho depart-20 ment of health and welfare within thirty (30) days after the end of each cal-21 endar quarter. Such report shall include the number of hospital admissions22 or emergency department visits within the previous quarter that were made by23 a patient self-reporting as a citizen of the United States, as being lawfully24 present in the United States, or as being not lawfully present in the United25 States.26 (3) By March 1 of each year, the department of health and welfare shall27 submit a report to the governor, the president pro tempore of the senate, and28 the speaker of the house of representatives. The report shall include the29 total number of hospital admissions and emergency department visits for the30 previous calendar year broken down by the three (3) categories described in31 subsection (2) of this section. The report shall also describe information32 relating to the costs of uncompensated care for aliens who are not lawfully33 present in the United States, the impact of uncompensated care on the cost34 or ability of hospitals to provide services to the public, hospital funding35 needs, and other related information.36 (4) The department of health and welfare may promulgate rules, subject37 to legislative approval, relating to the format of and information to be con-38 tained in quarterly reports and the acceptable formats for hospitals to use39 in requesting information regarding a patient's immigration status on hos-40 pital admission or registration forms. The rules may not require the disclo-41

2 sure of patient names or any other personal identifying information to the1 department of health and welfare.2 (5) As used in this section, "immigration status" means a person's le-3 gal status in the United States as governed by the immigration and national-4 ity act. "Immigration status" includes the following groups:5 (a) Individuals with citizenship who are born within the territorial6 limits of the United States or who have successfully completed the natu-7 ralization process after living as a permanent resident for a specified8 period;9 (b) Permanent residents, including lawful permanent residents who10 are granted authorization to live and work in the United States in-11 definitely and conditional permanent residents who have gained status12 through marriage or certain investor programs, which status is contin-13 gent on fulfilling specific conditions;14 (c) Nonimmigrants who are authorized to enter the United States only15 temporarily for certain purposes, such as students or temporary work-16 ers;17 (d) Refugees and asylees who have been admitted to the United States18 as a refugee, have been granted asylum, or can provide documentary evi-19 dence that they have applied for asylum; and20 (e) Undocumented migrants or illegal aliens who have overstayed their21 visa or entered the United States without authorization regardless of22 any temporary status they may have been granted by the department of23 homeland security allowing them to be present in the United States.24

SECTION 2. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby25 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after26 July 1, 2026.27