- calendar_today August 13, 2025
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CMS announced Tuesday a new nationwide initiative to more closely track public health insurance programs and identify illegal immigrants for termination from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The effort, first reported by CMS officials, was described as one of the Trump administration’s most aggressive moves in his second term to ensure taxpayer-funded benefits only go to U.S. citizens and legal residents.
CMS officials said the agency would now send monthly enrollment reports to all states listing Medicaid and CHIP enrollees for whom citizenship or immigration status could not be verified through federal databases. The databases will include those maintained by the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, among others.
CMS said the first of those reports was sent out on Tuesday. Each state will then receive its own report throughout the month and will be expected to review those records and report back to CMS the outcomes of their inquiries. States will have to verify to CMS that the enrollment complies with legal requirements for those programs.
“We are tightening oversight of enrollment to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure these vital programs serve only those who are truly eligible under the law,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. “We have no more important responsibility to American citizens and legal residents who pay for these programs than to ensure that no illegal immigrants can get taxpayer-funded Medicaid or CHIP benefits.”
CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement that the new initiative is critical to ensuring the integrity of safety-net health programs. “It is our duty to ensure that Medicaid and CHIP dollars are spent in accordance with the law. Every dollar misspent is a dollar stolen from an eligible, vulnerable individual in need of Medicaid and CHIP,” Oz said. “This action demonstrates our commitment to program integrity, the protection of taxpayer dollars, and making certain benefits go only to those who are eligible under the law.”
The announcement is the latest in a series of moves by the Trump administration and Republican Congress to cut off access to federal benefit programs to illegal immigrants. Prior to Trump’s second term, the White House took measures to increase and strengthen eligibility verification for federal programs. One of Trump’s first executive orders this term, signed in February, called for all federal agencies to review all public benefit programs and work to ensure that non-citizens were not improperly receiving federal benefits in violation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
Three weeks later, the Department of Health and Human Services under the Trump administration broadened the definition of what constitutes a “public benefit.” The list grew from 31 programs to 44, requiring more programs to be subject to additional verification.
CMS’s new verification program could be tied to other actions by the Justice Department in recent weeks. A federal judge last month ordered the HHS department to stop sharing Medicaid enrollment data with immigration authorities, following a Trump administration move to assist ICE deportation operations. The decision to share enrollee data was deemed by the court to be outside of the agency’s power.
States also now face additional statutory requirements tied to a Republican spending bill passed last month. The legislation required states to conduct eligibility checks of Medicaid beneficiaries at least twice per year, up from prior guidelines. The rule, supporters say, will reduce fraud, while critics say it will create additional burdens for families.
Earlier this month, a group of more than 20 Democratic state attorneys general challenged the administration over the new verification rules. Led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, the coalition said the mandatory immigration status checks for federally funded programs would harm access to those programs for millions of residents.
“For decades, states like New York have built health, education, and family support systems that serve anyone in need,” James said in a statement last month. “These programs work because they are open, accessible, and grounded in compassion. Now the federal government is pulling that foundation out from under us overnight, jeopardizing cancer screenings, early childhood education, primary care, and so much more. This is a baseless attack on some of our country’s most effective and inclusive public programs, and we will not let it stand.”
CMS said its new reporting structure is different from the actions being challenged in court. CMS spokesperson Kate Berry said in a statement that the new monthly enrollment reports are not mandatory for all Medicaid beneficiaries, but specifically for undocumented immigrants. “CMS expects that state Medicaid agencies will use the information contained in the report to determine which beneficiaries require recertification,” Berry said. “CMS will continue to work with states to address any technical assistance needs they may have as they implement new processes as part of this operation.”
CMS first sent out nationwide reports as part of the new system on Tuesday, but the broader battle over immigrant access to public programs may continue in the courts and Congress. With the Republican-led Congress focused on program integrity and Democratic state leaders on access and care, Medicaid and CHIP have become part of the immigration debate.
