Health, Dept. of - As introduced, requires hospitals that accept medicaid to inquire about a person's citizenship status and submit a quarterly report to the department on the number of hospital admissions and emergency department visits by persons lawfully and not lawfully present in the United States; requires the department to submit an annual report to the governor, speaker of the senate, and speaker of the house of representatives regarding the impact of uncompensated care for persons not lawfully present in the United States and other related information. - Amends TCA Title 33; Title 68 and Title 71.

HB 144 requires Tennessee hospitals that accept Medicaid to ask patients about their citizenship status during registration (with options for "citizen," "lawfully present," or "not lawfully present") and to submit quarterly reports to the state health department on admission and emergency department visit numbers by these categories. The health department must then submit an annual report to state leaders by July 1, 2026, detailing uncompensated care costs for non-lawfully present patients and related impacts on hospital funding and services. This bill directly affects Medicaid-participating hospitals and state health officials, mandating new data collection and reporting without requiring disclosure of personal patient information. The law aims to track healthcare utilization patterns and financial burdens related to immigration status, with implementation set for July 1, 2025.