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CMS and DHS Grant ICE Access to Medicaid Enrollee Data

ICE will have limited weekday view-only access until Sept. 9 to the records, a move career CMS officials say breaches federal privacy rules, prompting lawsuits from twenty states.

Special needs teacher Deja Nebula sets up an art installation displaying names and faces of people who have been detained, deported, or sent to offshore camps during ICE raids in Southern California, at Olvera Street Plaza in Los Angeles, on Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Residents gather during a community vigil on Monday, June 30, 2025, to stand in solidarity with an immigrant family after ICE agents detained Rosalina Luna Vargas on Saturday, June 28, in front of her children, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Federal agents patrol the halls of immigration court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building on July 16, 2025, in New York City.
People shout at federal immigration agents during a raid in the agriculture area of Camarillo, Calif., July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)

Overview

  • The agreement gives ICE view-only access to names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers and ethnic data for all 79 million Medicaid enrollees during standard work hours through Sept. 9.
  • Signed Monday by CMS and DHS without public announcement, the deal reverses previous policies barring the use of Medicaid records for immigration enforcement.
  • Twenty Democratic-run states filed suit this month, alleging the data-sharing arrangement violates HIPAA, the Privacy Act and the Social Security Act.
  • In June, career CMS officials including Deputy Director Sara Vitolo internally warned that federal statutes do not permit sharing enrollee information outside the agency.
  • Immigrant advocates and health experts warn the move will undermine trust in medical services and deter vulnerable populations from seeking necessary care.