ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: Bills Sponsored by Dana

H.R. 3722

Rohrabacher introduced H.R. 3722, also known as the Undocumented Aliens Emergency Medical Assistance Act, on January 21, 20043. This bill aimed to amend section 1011 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 regarding federal reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens.

The bill was considered in the House of Representatives on May 18, 2004, when a motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill was made3. However, the legislation was soundly defeated in a vote of 331 to 887.

H.R. 3722 would have placed restrictions on reimbursements to hospitals for providing emergency health care to undocumented aliens and required hospitals to collect and report information on undocumented patients to the Department of Homeland Security

CRS Report on H.R. 3722:

H.R. 3722 H.R. 3722 was brought to the floor under suspension of the rules on May 17, 2004. The vote to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 3722 occurred on May 18, 2004 at which time the motion was defeated 331 to 88. H.R. 3722 introduced by Representative Rohrabacher on January 21, 2004 would have amended §1011 of P.L. 108-173 to place certain conditions on the reimbursement to health care providers for emergency health services for unauthorized aliens. H.R. 3722 would have required as a condition of reimbursement that eligible providers obtain information on the alien’s citizenship, immigration status, address in the United States, financial data which is required of non-indigent patients including health insurance status, and current employer in the United States (if applicable) as well as a biometric identifier. The bill would have also required that the health care provider submit the alien’s information in an electronic format to the Secretary of Homeland Security. H.R. 3722 would have also made removable (deportable) aliens who do not provide payment for the provided health services, and do not give accurate information on the required questions or a biometric identifier. In addition, H.R. 3722 would have made employers of unauthorized aliens for whom the hospital received financial reimbursement for medical services, liable to HHS for the amount of the payment with certain exceptions. Lastly, the bill would have required the Secretary of State to do a study on the appropriateness of negotiating treaties under which countries provide for the international medical evacuation of their nationals who require emergency health care in the United States and provide funding through visa surcharges to pay for the evacuation of nationals seeking emergency health care from countries without treaties.

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1. In 1992, Rohrabacher introduced a bill that would allow social service agencies to share information about their clients with federal immigration officials1. This legislation was designed to discourage illegal immigrants from applying for federal programs.
2. In 2013, Rohrabacher introduced the "No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act" (H.R. 2745)25. This bill sought to exclude any wages earned by an illegal immigrant in the United States from being counted towards Social Security benefits.
3. In 2011, Rohrabacher introduced a similar bill called the "No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act of 2011" (H.R. 787)6.
4. In 2015, Rohrabacher again introduced the "No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act of 2015" (H.R. 1716)8.___________________________________________________________________________

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