Gobierno de Trump ordena a programas estatales de Medicaid que ayuden a identificar a inmigrantes indocumentados

President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered states to survey recipients of Medicaid — the program that prepares low-income or disabled people — to see if they meet eligibility requirements based on their immigration status.

Today, five states are reporting that they have received, in total, more than 170,000 people, an unprecedented federal government action that means it will involve the state-federal health program in the president’s anti-immigration campaign.

Immigrant rights advocates warn that the decision places an additional burden on states that duplicate checks and may cause some people to take out their health coverage simply to avoid having to engage in documentation.

Without embargo, Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), confirmed in a post on the social platform [que pagan impuestos federales] and fund Medicaid for illegal immigrants” in five states and Washington DC

The total amount of Medicaid exceeded $900 million in fiscal year 2024.

Neither Oz’s statement nor a complementary video explaining the period during which these gastos are carried out, and the voices of the CMS do not immediately respond to the questions requested.

Federal standards limit eligibility for Medicaid and the Child Safety and Security Program (CHIP) to established citizens and certain immigrants who reside in the country legally.

Individuals without legal immigration status cannot receive any federally funded health coverage, including Medicaid, Medicare, and planes acquired through security markets created by the Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio (ACA).

Several states came as a result of Oz’s declarations.

“Our pages for coverage of people documented with state and federal laws,” said Marc Williams, director of the Colorado Department of Health Policy and Finance, which manages the state Medicaid program. “The $1.5 million benchmark that was issued today by federal leaders is based on inaccurate preliminary speculation and has been refuted by data from our department’s experts.”

Aggregate: “The disappointing result that the administration announces is considered definitive while it is clearly exaggerated and the conversations are taking place in the information and debate phase”.

Illinois Medicaid officials offer lasting criticism of CMS chief’s comments.

“Once again, the Trump administration is spreading misinformation about the typical use of Medicaid funds,” said Melissa Kula, Illinois Medicaid spokesperson.

“This is not a reality show, and there is no conspiracy to evade federal law and provide Medicaid coverage to people who do not qualify. Dr. Oz should promote conspiracy theories and focus on better medical care for states,” Kula said.

The Washington State Medical Assistance Authority, which administers the state Medicaid program, also has jurisdiction. “The words Dr. Oz posted on social media are inaccurate,” said spokesperson Rachelle Alongi. “We were very surprised by Dr. Oz’s publication, especially considering that we worked positively with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to answer our questions and clarify any confusion.”

In August, CMS began sending states the numbers of Medicaid enrollees the agency determines are not eligible, requiring the program’s statutory agencies to verify their immigration status.

In October, KFF Health News contacted 10 government Medicaid agencies. Five of them provided figures close to the numbers the Trump administration had received up to that date, but assumed they went further: Utah received 8,000 numbers; Colorado, 45,000; Pennsylvania, 34,000; Ohio, 61,000; and Texas, 28,000.

Currently, more than 70 million people are enrolled in Medicaid.

Most of these states are not accepting further comments. Five others – California, New York, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina – refused to reveal the names of those to be reviewed, or did not respond directly.

Oz confirmed in his publication of

“Notificamos a los estados y muchos ya han comenzado a reembolsar el dinero,” he said. “But, ¿que habría pasado si nunca hubieramos preguntado?”.

Washington, D.C. Medicaid Director Melisa Byrd said CMS identified the district’s administrators of the program, that it was independent of its immigration status, that it should not be manufactured by the federal government and that her agency corrected some of those errors.

“We administer a large program and many things, and when errors occur, the corregimos,” he affirmed. The program plan reimburses CMS $654,014 for the month of November.

All five states, plus Washington DC, are Democratic governors, and President Donald Trump will not be around in the 2024 election.

In recent days, Health and Human Services Undersecretary Jim O’Neill posted photos on social media platform

You cannot contact O’Neill for statements.

“We are very concerned because this frankly looks like a need for state resources and a response to the administration’s anti-immigration agenda,” said Ben D’Avanzo, health policy director at the National Immigration Law Center, an immigrant rights organization. “It’s a copy of what the states have done,” he added.

As part of the offensive against people without legal status, the president in February ordered federal agencies to ensure that they do not have regulatory residency and do not obtain benefits that violate federal law.

In June, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy directed CMS to compare information on Medicaid enrollees with the Department of National Security (DHS). This prompted a request from several states concerned about this information being used for deportation campaigns.

In August, a federal court ordered HHS to share this information with immigration authorities.

Government Medicaid agencies normally use databases administered by Social Security, the Department of National Security and other government agencies to verify the immigration status of applicants.

If states need to contact enrollees to re-verify their immigration status or citizenship, some people could unjustifiably lose coverage, such as if the card doesn’t request documents or doesn’t respond at any given time.

“It’s not clear that there is sufficient evidence to warrant this additional verification,” said Marian Jarlenski, a professor of health policy at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health.

It is already clear that the Trump administration is not in a position to know this.

In the August release, CMS explains that it is established for states to verify the eligibility of individuals whose immigration status cannot be confirmed based on federal data. “We hope that states will act quickly and monitor progress alongside me,” the agency said.

Leonardo Cuello, a research professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, called the state CMS order “something unprecedented” in the 60-year history of the Medicaid program.

It is therefore possible that the federal government cannot verify the migration status of some people because their numbers are poorly written or out of date, while a beneficiary appears with the call of soltera instead of the house.

The list may also include people who receive emergency travel assistance from Medicaid, a program that covers hospital emergency services, including parto and work-apart attention, regardless of immigration status.

“CMS is making unnecessary reviews of the immigration status of people who are being wasted in the hospital to be housed on emergency Medicaid,” Cuello explained.

It was noted in its publication that federal law “allows states to use Medicaid funds for emergency treatment, regardless of the city or immigration status of patients,” and that states can “legally create Medicaid programs for undocumented immigrants using their own state taxes, always and when not using federal funds.”

All states that mentioned Oz have administered their own such programs.

These revisions represent an additional burden on government Medicaid agencies, which are busy with preparations to implement the tax bill and public waste that Trump announced in July.

That law, which Republicans called the “One Big and Beautiful Bill,” established numerous changes to Medicaid, including imposing work requirements on states starting in 2027. There is also a requirement to review the eligibility of enrollees at least two weeks out of the year.

“We’ve had states do necessary checks that put a burden on some beneficiaries, who lose health coverage when they’re not supposed to,” Cuello said. “This will be a lot of work for CMS and the states, with a lot of real results.”

Given that the new policy allows the agency to publicly release data, we believe the sector has more political than practical value.

Brandon Cwalina, head of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services — which administers Medicaid — said the state requires anyone applying to identify their city or, when it matches, their immigration status.

“Without embargo, the list of names and instructions issued by CMS last month constitute a new procedure, and the department is carefully revising this list to support corresponding actions,” explained.

In his post, Oz did not mention Pennsylvania, where Trump would be leaving in 2024.

When a legal resident does not have a Social Security number, the state verifies their status using a Department of National Security database, in addition to reviewing specific, aggregated immigration documents.

Other government Medicaid agencies have not yet begun contacting enrollees.

“We have developed a procedure for making these reviews,” Jennifer Stroehecker, Utah’s Medicaid director, said in an August meeting with a state adviser.

Renuka Rayasam and Rae Ellen Bichell collaborate on this article.