TITLE
RESOLUTION URGING CONGRESS TO PASS LEGISLATION PROVIDING FEDERAL REIMBURSEMENT TO JACKSON HEALTH SYSTEM AND OTHER CHARTIY CARE HOSPITALS FOR UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT HEALTH CARE

BODY
WHEREAS, Jackson Health System (�Jackson�) is the State of Florida�s largest provider of charity care, serving the Florida community as the only safety net hospital in Miami-Dade County; and
WHEREAS, Jackson consists of Jackson Memorial Hospital, 10 primary care centers, 17�school-based clinics, two long-term care nursing facilities, an outpatient diagnostic center, a children�s hospital, a rehabilitation hospital, a mental health hospital and two community hospitals; and
WHEREAS, a significant part of the charity care that Jackson provides is for undocumented immigrants, who often lack an ability to pay for health care and are generally not eligible for government programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid; and
WHEREAS, in 2008, more than 77,000 undocumented immigrants visited Jackson at a total cost of $38 million in unpaid care; and
WHEREAS, so far in 2009, more than 55,000 undocumented immigrants have visited Jackson, at a cost of more than $33 million in unpaid care so far this year; and
WHEREAS, under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986 (EMTALA), hospitals are required to assess and stabilize any person who walks through the doors of an emergency room; and
WHEREAS, EMTALA prohibits a hospital from inquiring about a patient�s immigration status or ability to pay until such time as the patient has been stabilized, resulting in many hospitals providing significant care that is ultimately uncompensated; and
WHEREAS, Congress has recognized the burden EMTALA placed on hospitals and in 2003 as part of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 included Section 1011 which allowed some federal reimbursements for the cost of treating undocumented immigrants through 2008; and
WHEREAS, Section 1011 funding was extended to 2009, but reimbursements for hospitals within the State of Florida already have been exhausted for the current year; and
WHEREAS, Congress needs to continue and authorize more funds for the Section 1011 program or pass other legislation providing federal reimbursement to hospitals for undocumented immigrant health care,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board:
Section 1. Urges Congress to pass legislation providing federal reimbursement to Jackson Health System and other charity care hospitals for undocumented immigrant health care.
Section 2. Directs the Clerk of the Board to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the members of the Florida Congressional Delegation.
Section 3. Directs the County's federal lobbyists to advocate for the legislation set forth in Section 1 above, and authorizes and directs that the 2009 and 2010 Federal Legislative Package be amended to include this item.