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I don't understand why ICE would need access to Medicaid data. You need to be a citizen or lawful permanent resident to access that program, not to mention all
by kevingadd 1y ago
I don't understand why ICE would need access to Medicaid data. You need to be a citizen or lawful permanent resident to access that program, not to mention all the other additional criteria. The idea of illegal immigrants somehow bypassing all the checks and balances successfully en masse feels a little silly to me.
Just a quick check of the official website to try and get onto Medicaid in WA state shows that it requires a social security number and citizenship information: https://www.wahealthplanfinder.org/us/en/health-coverage/get-started/steps-apply.html https://www.wahealthplanfinder.org/us/en/health-coverage/get...
- joshuaheard 1y ago[flagged]
- ktallett 1y agoWhat bastards?! How dare they help keep those migrants that are essential for many key jobs in the US healthy?!
- jvanderbot 1y agoOnly an uncharitable reading of GP would find some implication that this is wrong (or right). Just impartial commenting on how benefits are indeed available to non-citizens.
- netsharc 1y agoHim using the word "illegal" makes me doubt the impartiality... To play language cop, "undocumented" would be more neutral...
- burningChrome 1y agoLegally speaking, if you enter the country without entering through a port of entry? That is actually ILLEGAL. Therefore, its not a stretch to use the word "ILLEGAL ALIEN". Just for reference: 8 U.S. Code § 1325 - Improper entry by alien Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection; misrepresentation and concealment of facts Any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or (2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or (3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
- saubeidl 1y agoIt is not the human that is illegal, just because their entry into the country was. Words matter. Specificity matters. Dehumanizing propaganda matters.
- jvanderbot 1y agoAn illegal alien is a title / designation. Just like an illegal vendor, unregulated industry, or ineligible participant. Person first language is a good thing, but only recent political events have taken up the "No person is illegal" wordsmithing.
- saubeidl 1y agoBy moving the designator illegal from the activity to the person, you are criminalizing their being instead of their deed. It is a way of dehumanizing people.
- jvanderbot 1y agoYes, I understand what you mean. And I tend to agree. I'm just making space for intent, and as much as words matter, intent also matters. A person who entered the country illegally is not incorrectly (even if roughly) abbreviated as an "illegal alien", since alien is a designation for "person of a foreign country" in this case. It's true this can be misused, but it's also true I don't think OP misused it or intended to, and even if it could be interpreted as a rough slight, I'd prefer we took the charitable stance, evaluated intent in context, and stayed out of semantics and focused on the issue (in this case whether such individuals receive funded health care benefits). That's really it. If you disagree and think this was the time to call that out, that's ok, I just disagree and don't have anything more to say on it. Cheers.
- xdennis 1y agoEverybody knows that illegal migrant means an migrant who is illegal present in the country. You're only trying to say that it means "his humanity is against the law" to stigmatize people who care about law enforcement. If the term "illegal migrant" offends them then that's a good thing, because you should be ashamed when you break the law. When you call an illegal a "undocumented migrant" you're essentially downplaying the illegality of the act. It's just as bad as calling a rapist an "undocumented lover". You're de-stigmatizing breaking the law.
- huhkerrf 1y agoNo, no it wouldn't. Undocumented immigrant is far from a neutral term. They haven't just forgotten their documents, or oops! the government hasn't gotten around to documenting them. They are in the country when they aren't supposed to. If you really hate the term "illegal immigrant", fine then call them unauthorized immigrants, but the "no person is illegal" slogan is just a motte and balley.
- ktallett 1y agoNo person is illegal as borders are arbitrary, enforced by other humans, not by any real natural divide, hence why they change.
- huhkerrf 1y agoSpeed limits are also arbitrary, enforced by other humans, not by any real natural divide, hence why they change. Again, motte and bally.
- ktallett 1y agoSpeed limits aren't required by nature, we happen to have built machines that are deadly and need control.
- throw10920 1y agoMeanwhile, borders are required by nature, because cultures are not interchangeable and cultural friction exists, rendering borders and controlled assimilation necessary. You also committed a logical fallacy: > No person is illegal as borders are arbitrary That's fallacious. All laws are arbitrary, as the GP pointed out, and you somehow failed to read: > Speed limits are also arbitrary, enforced by other humans So, it's factually true that borders are both necessary due to nature, and exist in the legal realm such that "illegal immigrants" is a factually correct label.
- pseudo0 1y agoIllegal alien is the correct legal terminology used in immigration statutes. "Undocumented" is a confusing euphemism. Most illegal aliens have documentation from their country of origin, what they lack is legal authorization to live in the US.
- AlotOfReading 1y agoCalifornia gives medi-cal to undocumented migrants, paid for by the California general fund. The same program also administers federal medicaid funds for eligible Californians. It's a very different reality than you're trying to present.
- aerostable_slug 1y agoThat's not true, and it's why clinics are panicking over the new requirement to demonstrate citizenship. The theory was Federal monies were always largely denied to undocumented migrants, but in fact there was significant admixture between state and Federal funding and clinics were reimbursed out of Federal accounts for undocumented migrant care (because California just didn't track who was a citizen and who wasn't). With that threatened there's a lot of worry here in California, especially about ERs being overrun by undocumented migrants seeking care and claiming it's an emergent issue (because where else can they go?).
- AlotOfReading 1y agoI wasn't aware that CA intermingled the billing. That's a big fuck-up on their part, especially if they didn't make sure the enrollment data had eligibility information.
- burningChrome 1y agoMaybe this is the reality he was trying to point out? California’s $6 Billion Band-Aid: The Cost of Covering Illegal Immigrants Last week it was announced that Governor Gavin Newsom is seeking a $3.44 billion loan from California’s general fund, as well as an immediate additional $2.8 billion in funding, to cover over-budget expenses incurred by our state’s Medi-Cal program.[1] Why is the program over budget and underfunded? There are a few factors that have gone into it, but the main reason comes down to the fact that the state expanded Medi-Cal to include coverage for illegal immigrants, and they underestimated how many of these participants would sign up to the program.[2] https://www.thecaliforniaconversation.com/articles/california-medical-crisis https://www.thecaliforniaconversation.com/articles/californi...
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- unethical_ban 1y agoI don't care. There are reasons we firewall private information from blanket surveillance by law enforcement. This is wrong.
- saubeidl 1y agoThe term "illegal aliens" is dehumanizing hate speech.
- joshuaheard 1y agoIt's the legal term.
- dmix 1y agoThere's something called "Qualified Non-citizens", federal funding is prohibited for non-citizens but states could optionally cover it https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/enrollment-strategies/downloads/overview-of-eligibility-for-non-citizens-in-medicaid-and-chip.pdf https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/enrollment-strategies/down... so ultimately there is some source of non-citizen data to be gleaned
- prometheus76 1y agoThey have a pamphlet available one more click away from the link you shared that gives detailed information on how undocumented immigrants can get free/reduced-cost health care, and what all of their options are: https://www.wahealthplanfinder.org/content/dam/wahbe-assets/materials/collateral/ihc/guide-to-health-insurance-for-immigrants-in-wa/IHCEligibilityHandout_EN_202505.pdf https://www.wahealthplanfinder.org/content/dam/wahbe-assets/...
- kevingadd 1y agoThis is not what the federal website for Medicaid says, though.
- prometheus76 1y agoCouple of notes: Medicaid DOES cover emergency services for undocumented immigrants, to the tune of 16.2 billion dollars during the Biden administration. (Reference: https://budget.house.gov/imo/media/doc/cbo_on_medicaid_for_illegal_immigrants.pdf https://budget.house.gov/imo/media/doc/cbo_on_medicaid_for_i...) Just because it's illegal doesn't mean it isn't happening. From a May 25, 2025 article on the official CMS website: "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today increased federal oversight to stop states from misusing federal Medicaid dollars to cover health care for individuals who are in the country illegally. Under federal law, federal Medicaid funding is generally only available for emergency medical services for noncitizens with unsatisfactory immigration status who would otherwise be Medicaid-eligible, but some states have pushed the boundaries, putting taxpayers on the hook for benefits that are not allowed." From this article: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-increasing-oversight-states-illegally-using-federal-medicaid-funding-health-care-illegal https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-increasing-o...
- epakai 1y agoEmergency Medicaid is provided due to EMTALA passed in 1986. There's nothing illegal about it. Both of those sources are just bullshit propaganda. There are no 'open borders'. You're just being manipulated. They also are really poor about citing evidence for their claims. The best thing they've got is a vague '124 percent more' with no real figures, and 'some states have pushed boundaries'. If they want to tighten policy around what qualifies as emergency care then be my guest. The rest of this is just pushing a bullshit narrative.
- giantg2 1y agoSome states have different requirements for undocumented persons. Most states permit medicaid for emergency situations. Some permit it for pregnant people.
- thomas_ma 1y agoAre there any states where Medicaid funds "emergency situations" for people who are not otherwise eligible for Medicaid? I've never heard of that. EMTALA requires hospitals to treat anyone in emergency situations, but doesn't to my knowledge provide a mechanism to pay for those treatments. The patient still gets billed and hospital likely just doesn't get paid.
- giantg2 1y agoI don't think the funds get used. My understanding is that medicaid is administered by the states and can be expanded (at state expense). So the people covered by the expansion are still in the system.
- kevingadd 1y agoMy understanding from reading the federal website is that this would not be Medicaid, it would be a different program. So they would not be in the Medicaid database, right?
- xdennis 1y ago[flagged]
- arrosenberg 1y ago> I don't understand why ICE would need access to Medicaid data. It’s a class war. Once they’ve run out of immigrants to harass and deport, they’ll be going after the poor.
- yakz 1y agoThey are: - significantly raising taxes on imported goods - letting ACA subsidies expire - reducing access to medicaid - allowing medical debt on credit reports - resuming collections/garnishment for student loans - reducing options for student loan repayment / forgiveness they're going after the poor
- pstuart 1y ago> they're going after the poor That's just a bonus feature The tariffs serve 2 purposes: 1. They can replace income taxes and protect the wealthy (per their reasoning) 2. They are a tool for power over other countries and a mechanism to compel them to pay personal tribute to The King of America™ I would love to be proven wrong because I'm hating this timeline.
- pksebben 1y agoI think it might even be more boring and straightforward than that. Get power => cause market instability, make trades and bets on volatility (or have your friends do it) => offshore your gains
- libraryatnight 1y agoThe instability also damages trust in the US which loss of trust has its own economic and geopolitical fallout, so big wins for the Putins of the world.
- autoexec 1y agoYou forgot the third purpose which is market manipulation so that they can make huge profits in the stock market for themselves and their friends whenever they feel like it.
- klooney 1y agoLots of people with no papers buy social security numbers so they can work legit jobs- and you could presumably get benefits too. Presumably they're looking for people who don't make sense- receiving benefits in two states, live in Minnesota but get benefits in Arizona, that sort of thing.
- libraryatnight 1y agoI live in AZ and your example is awful because we're literally full up on Minnesota snowbirds 6 months out of the year.
- delfinom 1y agoSeveral blue states expanded their medicaid programs to allow illegals. This was with the intention to pay for it with state dollars instead of federal dollars. Some states even allow legal temporary visa visitors like students to sign up for their state level funded medicaid. NY is constitutionally required to do so. ICE however is making a play to obtain all of that state level data.
- tiahura 1y agoFinding illegal family members of enrollees.
- EasyMark 1y agoA lot of states evidently give Medicaid to illegal aliens as well. ICE wants this data to track down those persons. I feel it's illegal and overreach, but Congress has turned into a rubber stamp for Trump and just sitting on their thumbs, albeit some have furrowed brows and "concerns". None of them do anything though. Congress should be the main power in Washington, not our new King in Orange.