ICE wants Medicaid data

The Trump administration has ordered states to investigate certain individuals enrolled in Medicaid to determine whether they are ineligible due to their immigration status.

The immigration system, particularly Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has access to Medicaid data to identify and locate immigrants, even though undocumented immigrants are generally ineligible for the program. Five states reported receiving inquiries about more than 170,000 names combined, an “unprecedented” move by the federal government that involves the state-federal health program in its anti-immigrant actions.

Paula Andalo, Spanish Editor at KFF Health News, explains what Medicaid is, clarifies who can be beneficiaries, and tells us what Trump’s order to the states consists of.

She explains why many believe this policy is wrong and clarifies that undocumented immigrants are not funded through Medicaid.

However, certain states such as California and New York have decided that undocumented immigrants can access health insurance without using federal funds, financing it with state resources instead.

Paula Andalo, Spanish Editor at KFF Health News, points out that with these actions, the Trump administration aims to discourage many people from enrolling out of fear in states that do allow it.

She clarifies that it is not millions of undocumented immigrants who use Medicaid. But many people seek to create a false perception that immigrants use and abuse health insurance.

Likewise, the Spanish Editor of KFF Health News makes it clear that what the former TV host and now administrator of the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, Dr. Memed Oz, has said about many people using Medicaid without having documents is not based on real data.

She says that the only place where this can happen is in emergency Medicaid, which can be used precisely in an emergency or for pregnancy.

Robert Kennedy, the federal health secretary, requested that user information be shared with ICE, but a judge ruled that such data cannot be shared with immigration authorities. However, Paula Andalo asserts that the goal is to instill fear.