Wendy Rogers, state senator for Arizona’s Legislative District 7, said Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed SB1051, a bill that would have required hospitals to report patient citizenship data to track costs associated with care for illegal patients.
The issue centers on the financial impact of uncompensated care in Arizona hospitals and the challenge of tracking costs related to non-citizen patients. Supporters of SB1051 said the measure would have provided greater transparency about how much hospitals spend on care for undocumented individuals.
“Of course Hobbs vetoed transparency of accountancy tracking of ILLEGALS’ use of our HOSPITALS,” Rogers said, according to her post on X. According to Rogers’ statement, SB1051 would have mandated hospitals accepting payments from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) to include citizenship status on admission forms and submit quarterly reports to the Arizona Department of Health Services. The data would cover admissions and emergency visits by citizenship category, along with uncompensated care costs for non-citizens. Hobbs vetoed the bill on February 20, 2026, according to her office’s legislative update.
As reported by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System in their 2024 report, Arizona hospitals incurred $539.5 million in total uncompensated care during hospital fiscal year 2023, an increase from $505.8 million the prior year. This amounted to 2.2% of total expenses statewide. Border hospitals often bear a disproportionate share due to migrant care, straining resources.
According to Texas officials’ report, Texas hospitals spent over $1 billion on immigrant health care in fiscal year 2025, covering inpatient and emergency services for non-citizens with more than 313,000 visits recorded—highlighting similar pressures faced by border states like Arizona. As said in a KFF analysis, uncompensated care costs remain higher in non-Medicaid expansion states; Texas led at 6.6% of operating expenses in 2023 while Arizona averaged 2.2%, though border regions report elevated burdens from non-citizen patients.
Rogers has represented Arizona Senate District 7 since 2021 after serving twenty years in the U.S. Air Force and retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1996 according to her official biography. She was elected as a Republican senator in 2023 after replacing Theresa Hatathlie.
