Karoline Leavitt Dodges After Being Asked if Emergency Rooms Should Treat Illegal Immigrants
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dodged multiple times on Thursday after being asked whether emergency rooms should be checking for patients’ legal status before providing care.
During a press gaggle outside the White House, Leavitt blasted Democrats and accused them of causing the current federal government shutdown. Democrats and Republicans have failed to reach a funding deal, with Republicans accusing Democrats of fighting for healthcare for illegal immigrants. Democrats are seeking for subsidies from the Affordable Care Act to be extended and for some Medicaid cuts to be reversed.
NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez asked Leavitt whether she believed emergency rooms should check for legal status, and Leavitt did not provide a direct answer — despite the law saying that hospitals should not be doing any such thing.
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), signed into law by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1986, requires Medicare-participating hospitals to provide emergency care regardless of whether a patient can pay. Hospitals are required to stabilize patients in emergency situations and can only transfer patients out if medically justified and there is no active emergency.
“Should ERs check immigration status before treating a dying patient?” Gutierrez asked on Thursday.
“That’s probably not a question for me to answer. That’s a question for healthcare professionals and legal experts to answer,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt raged against Democrats and illegal immigrants receiving “Medicaid benefits” after Gutierrez pointed out existing laws require illegal immigrants already to receive care.
Check out the exchange below:
GABE GUTTIERREZ: Karoline, should the honors check immigration status before treating the dying patient?
KAROLINE LEAVITT: I’m sorry?
GUTTIERREZ: Should ERs check for immigration status before treating the dying patient?
LEAVITT: That’s probably not a question for me to answer. I think that’s a question for healthcare professionals and legal experts to answer.
GUTTIERREZ: I’m asking you because Republicans have been saying that Democrats want to give benefits to undocumented immigrants even though it’s against the law for them to get these benefits.
LEAVITT: Let me ask you, do you think that illegal aliens should receive Medicaid benefits? Medicaid benefits that go to the most vulnerable people in our country, Medicaid benefits designed to help low income families and Americans in our county. What the Biden administration did is they allowed tens of millions of illegal aliens from all over the world to come into our country, yes, and they paroled them into the system and you cover immigration and you know well it was a complete abuse of our immigration system and they slapped a band-aid on these illegals they called it temporary protective status and then they allowed those illegals from all over the world to get free benefits and you know who would like free benefits? Hard-working Americans who work their butts off every day who are living paycheck to paycheck because of the Biden-induced inflation crisis, and there were higher wait times at hospitals under the Biden administration. We saw these illegals committing crimes all over our country and they’re getting things for free. That is fundamentally unfair and this administration is not going to support it.
GUTTIERREZ: If a person comes in with a stroke or a bullet wound or bleeding out should they ask an immigration staff before treating that person?
LEAVITT: I don’t speak for emergency rooms across the country. I speak for the President of the United States and that’s what he believes on this policy.
Watch above via CSPAN.
