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Frequently Asked Questions: Medicaid Information Sharing with Immigration Enforcement

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What occurred with the information of people enrolled in Medi-Cal?

  • On June 10, 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)—an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—shared personal information of people enrolled in Medi-Cal with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
  • The information shared includes the personal information of all Medi-Cal members: citizens, immigrants with satisfactory immigration status, immigrants with unsatisfactory status, and people who have accessed only emergency services through Medi-Cal.
  • Current federal and state laws protect the privacy of personal information about Medi-Cal members. This is a departure from the longstanding laws and policies that limit using a Medi-Cal/Medicaid recipient’s personal information for purposes directly related to the program. Sharing this information with DHS for potential immigration enforcement undermines the Medicaid program’s goals and the promises consumers have relied on for decades.

How did enrollee information get into the hands of immigration enforcement?

  • All states, including California, are required to submit beneficiary eligibility information to CMS on a monthly basis as part of the state’s obligation to administer the Medicaid/Medi-Cal program. This has been a long-standing requirement. CMS is not an enforcement agency; it is an agency within the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.
  • The HHS and other Trump Administration officials directed CMS to provide personal information, including immigration status, to DHS, breaking with routine data-sharing practices.
  • See the statement from the California Department of Health Care Services here and the Governor’s statement here.

What types of beneficiary eligibility information does California normally submit to CMS?

  • Eligibility information that is required to be submitted by California includes personal information such as names, addresses, date of birth, Social Security number (if provided), immigration status, and Medi-Cal identification numbers.

What is DHS doing with the Medi-Cal personal information?

  • We do not yet know how/if DHS will use the information requested for immigration enforcement, public charge determinations, or anything else.

What else is important to know?

  • Last month, the Trump Administration targeted California, along with other Democratic states that provide state-only funded health care to individuals regardless of immigration status. The agency sought additional information for federal review to ensure that these states have not used federal funds to provide health care for individuals with unsatisfactory immigration status. For this review, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), which administers the Medi-Cal program, did not provide any demographic data to CMS that CMS does not already regularly receive to administer the program, as is federally required.
  • California has not submitted any additional information to CMS other than the routinely required monthly eligibility reports and the information for additional federal review.
  • California expanded full scope Medi-Cal benefits to all eligible Californians regardless of immigration status in 2024; the benefit currently exists. In the California State budget, proposals to freeze future Medi-Cal applications, add monthly premiums, and reduce benefits for undocumented individuals have advanced; however, no final budget has been signed by the government to make these proposals permanent policy.

What might this mean for me?

Will cancelling or disenrolling from Medi-Cal help keep my information private or stop immigration enforcement from getting my personal information?

  • No. The information was already shared on June 10, 2025. Cancelling Medi-Cal coverage today does not erase the information that was already sent to immigration enforcement. Also, computer systems keep records of cancelled cases. Choosing to cancel your Medi-Cal coverage will only result in the loss of health coverage.
  • If DHS already is aware of your presence and has your address (e.g. from an immigration-related process), there may be no additional risk to applying for or receiving benefits.

Is there anything I can do to keep my Medi-Cal personal information private?

  • Given the unprecedented nature of sharing personal information of Medicaid members outside of the purposes of administering the program, there is no guarantee that the federal administration will secure the privacy and protection of information of any Medi-Cal members.
  • Immigrant rights groups, legal partners, and the state are exploring possible legal action to hold the federal administration accountable for sharing individuals’ private data. We can share more once we have more information on any possible legal action.

When applying for Medi-Cal, you are not required to provide the social security number or immigration status of family members who are not seeking benefits for themselves, and should not do so

  • If I am undocumented and enrolled in Medi-Cal, what risks of an immigration enforcement action am I facing now? Is there anything I can do to protect myself?
  • Currently, we do not know whether DHS will use Medi-Cal information to target individuals for deportation or other negative immigration enforcement actions.
  • You can learn how to protect your rights and prepare for contact with immigration:
    https://www.nilc.org/resources/know-your-rights-what-to-do-if-arrested-detained-immigration

How else can people get health care if they do not want to enroll in Medi-Cal?

  • If a person chooses not to enroll in Medi-Cal, health care needs can be met through county health programs, clinic sliding-scale programs, and hospital financial assistance—although some health services may be limited at these kinds of health care access locations.

Know Your Rights resources:

*Please note, some of these links will lead to information and resources in English, but can be accessed in different languages, including Spanish using your browser. Click on the globe icon at the top of most pages that can be translated.

Other resources:

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