HHS has commanded state Medicaid programs to investigate the eligibility of hundreds of thousands of program enrollees based on their immigration status amid the federal government’s immigration crackdown, KFF Health News reported Nov. 3.
Officials representing five state Medicaid programs said they have collectively received more than 170,000 names to investigate. More than 70 million people are enrolled in Medicaid.
This summer, HHS officials ordered CMS to share Medicaid enrollee data covering seven states with the Department of Homeland Security. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it will use this data to support the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, and HHS said it is working to ensure Medicaid is not enrolling immigrants who lack permanent legal status.
“Based on our initial set of audits, more than $1 billion of federal taxpayer dollars were being spent on funding Medicaid for illegal immigrants. And my team is getting it back,” CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, said in an Oct. 31 post on X.
Dr. Oz said a review of five states and the District of Columbia uncovered improper use of millions of dollars in federal funds to provide coverage for immigrants lacking permanent legal status.
He said California’s Medicaid program misused $1.3 billion; Illinois, $29.8 million; Oregon, $5.4 million; Washington, $2.4 million; the District of Columbia, $2.1 million; and Colorado, $1.5 million. Officials from several of these states disputed these figures.
It is unclear over what timeframe Dr. Oz was referring to with regard to the alleged misspent funds, and CMS did not respond to KFF‘s requests for comment.
