(a) In general

Subject to such amounts as are provided in advance in appropriation Acts, each State or political subdivision of a State that provides medical assistance for care and treatment of an emergency medical condition (as defined in subsection (d)) through a public hospital or other public facility (including a nonprofit hospital that is eligible for an additional payment adjustment under section 1395ww of title 42) or through contract with another hospital or facility to an individual who is an alien not lawfully present in the United States is eligible for payment from the Federal Government of its costs of providing such services, but only to the extent that such costs are not otherwise reimbursed through any other Federal program and cannot be recovered from the alien or another person.

(b) Confirmation of immigration status required

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Terms Used In 8 USC 1369

  • alien: means any person not a citizen or national of the United States. See 8 USC 1101
  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Attorney General: means the Attorney General of the United States. See 8 USC 1101
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • facility: means a subsection (d) hospital (as defined in section 1886(d)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U. See 8 USC 1182
  • individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
  • person: means an individual or an organization. See 8 USC 1101
  • State: includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. See 8 USC 1101
  • United States: except as otherwise specifically herein provided, when used in a geographical sense, means the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. See 8 USC 1101

No payment shall be made under this section with respect to services furnished to an individual unless the immigration status of the individual has been verified through appropriate procedures established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General.

(c) Administration

This section shall be administered by the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(d) “Emergency medical condition” defined

For purposes of this section, the term “emergency medical condition” means a medical condition (including emergency labor and delivery) manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) such that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in—

(1) placing the patient’s health in serious jeopardy,

(2) serious impairment to bodily functions, or

(3) serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.

(e) Effective date

Subsection (a) shall apply to medical assistance for care and treatment of an emergency medical condition furnished on or after January 1, 1997.