Trump’s Hunt For Undocumented Medicaid Enrollees Yields Few Violators

Last August, arsenic portion of nan national government's crackdown connected group successful nan state illegally, nan Trump management sent states nan names of hundreds of thousands of Medicaid enrollees pinch orders to find whether they were ineligible based connected migration status.

But 7 months later, findings from 5 states shared pinch KFF Health News show that nan reviews person uncovered small grounds of a wide problem.

Only U.S. citizens and immoderate lawfully coming immigrants are eligible for Medicaid, which covers wellness attraction costs for group pinch debased incomes and disabilities, and nan intimately related Children's Health Insurance Program. Both programs are administered by states.

Spokespeople from Pennsylvania's and Colorado's Medicaid agencies said, arsenic of March, nan states had recovered nary 1 who needed to beryllium terminated from Medicaid. That was aft checking a mixed 79,000 names.

Texas has reviewed records of much than 28,000 Medicaid enrollees astatine nan Trump administration's petition and terminated sum for 77 of them, according to Jennifer Ruffcorn, a spokesperson for nan Texas Department of Human Services.

Ohio has checked 65,000 Medicaid enrollees, of which 260 group were disenrolled from nan program, said Stephanie O'Grady, a spokesperson for nan Ohio Department of Medicaid.

In Utah, 42 of nan 8,000 enrollees identified by nan Trump management had their Medicaid sum terminated, said Becky Wickstrom, a spokesperson for nan state's Department of Workforce Services.

In announcing nan reviews, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said: "We are tightening oversight of enrollment to safeguard payer dollars and guarantee that these captious programs service only those who are genuinely eligible nether nan law."

Leonardo Cuello, a investigation professor astatine Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families, said nan reviews ordered by nan national Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services were unneeded because states cheque migration position erstwhile group motion up.

"It is wholly predictable that each of these burdensome reviews that nan national authorities is forcing upon states would output nary salary dirt," Cuello said. "The states had already done nan reviews once, and CMS was conscionable making them reverify nan aforesaid accusation they had already checked. Making states spell done nan aforesaid bureaucratic process doubly is incredibly wasteful and inefficient."

CMS spokesperson Chris Krepich said successful a connection to KFF Health News that nan ongoing checks are verifying eligibility "for definite enrollees whose position could not beryllium confirmed done national information sources."

"CMS provides states pinch regular reports for follow-up review, and states are responsible for independently verifying eligibility and taking due action accordant pinch national requirements," he said.

But nan findings shared pinch KFF Health News besides propose that galore of nan enrollees whose eligibility nan Trump management said it could not corroborate are so U.S. citizens. O'Grady said Ohio recovered that, of nan 65,000 names referred by nan national government, nan authorities already had accusation connected 53,000 confirming them arsenic citizens and an further 11,000 showing due migration position for Medicaid.

Caseworkers past worked connected nan remaining 1,000 names to reappraisal their accusation aliases scope retired for much details, she said.

CMS did not reply questions astir nan findings from nan states sampled by KFF Health News aliases supply accusation astir responses it received from each 50 states and nan District of Columbia, which were instructed to execute verification checks.

The agency besides did not respond to a mobility astir whether it's forwarding nan names of those whose Medicaid sum was terminated to national migration officials.

In June, advisers to Kennedy ordered CMS to stock accusation astir Medicaid enrollees pinch nan Department of Homeland Security, prompting a suit by immoderate states alarmed that nan management would usage nan accusation for its deportation run against residents surviving successful nan U.S. without authorization.

A national judge ruled successful December that Immigration and Customs Enforcement workers could entree accusation only astir group successful nan state unlawfully successful nan Medicaid databases of nan states that sued.

CMS continues to nonstop states lists of names astatine slightest each fewer months, though authorities officials opportunity nan numbers person declined since nan first batch past summer.

People without ineligible position are ineligible for federally funded wellness coverage, including Medicaid, Medicare, and plans done nan Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Medicaid does reimburse hospitals for providing emergency attraction to group without ineligible position if they meet income and different programme requirements.

Seven states and nan District of Columbia supply wellness sum sloppy of migration status, backing nan programs pinch their ain money.

In March 2025, CMS began financial reviews of those programs. "CMS has identified complete $1.8 cardinal successful national costs that are being recouped done voluntary returns and deferrals of early national Medicaid payments," Krepich said. He did not reply really overmuch has been collected truthful acold aliases from which states.

Medicaid's wide spending topped $900 cardinal successful fiscal twelvemonth 2024.