Oklahoma has so far terminated Medicaid benefits for approximately 10 people after the Trump Administration asked the state to double-check the immigration status of thousands of enrollees.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in August that it had launched a new initiative to review the status of Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollees, part of the Trump Administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
The Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which oversees SoonerCare, the state’s Medicaid program, already requires applicants to provide proof of citizenship or immigration status with documents such as a birth certificate, passport or arrival and departure records. Only certain noncitizens, like lawful permanent residents and entrants from Cuba and Haiti, are eligible for benefits and often must complete a five-year waiting period before they can get full coverage.
The results of Oklahoma’s review mirror findings from similar reviews in five other states, where Medicaid agencies found few — and in some cases, no — violators.
The federal government has said it couldn’t verify the immigration status of 16,996 Medicaid enrollees in Oklahoma and asked the Health Care Authority to review them, said Rebecca Sheppard, a spokeswoman for the state agency. Sheppard said the department has used a U.S. Department of Homeland Security database, verified Social Security numbers and reviewed other sources to check the immigration status of about 14,741 enrollees so far.
Sheppard said the Health Care Authority sent some enrollees verification requests for additional information. She said the agency can’t determine whether the individuals with terminated coverage were actually ineligible or just failed to provide that clarifying information. The department also doesn’t receive additional funding from the federal government to conduct this review.
Rich Rasmussen, president of the Oklahoma Hospital Association, said the results of the reviews so far haven’t been surprising to his organization. He said a person’s eligibility is often reviewed by their individual health plan, clinics and hospitals, along with the Health Care Authority.
“There’s just a lot more eyes that are passing over that application for eligibility determination than there perhaps are in other programs,” Rasmussen said.
Lawmakers’ increased scrutiny of Medicaid enrollment can deter immigrants who are eligible for the program or have children who are U.S. citizens from participating, said Leonardo Cuello, a Medicaid law and policy expert and professor at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy.
“The enrollment, regardless of the eligibility rules, is already decreasing because people are terrified,” Cuello said.
The share of immigrants who said they avoided applying for a government assistance program in the past 12 months for fear of drawing attention to their or a family member’s immigration status increased from 8% in 2023 to 12% in 2025, according to a KFF and New York Times survey. About 11% of immigrants said they stopped participating in those programs for immigration-related reasons.
State lawmakers were considering a bill this session that would have required the Health Care Authority to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if it couldn’t verify the immigration status of an applicant, even if they were applying on behalf of a child. Non-citizens are allowed to apply for benefits for their U.S. citizen children.
The measure was later amended to change that reporting requirement. It stalled in the Senate after Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, said in an April press conference he was concerned about parents who aren’t in the country legally being afraid to access programs for their children, which could affect their health.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
Ari Fife interned at The Frontier and was hired by the outlet in 2023. She covers politics and social issues. She can be reached at Ari@readfrontier.com
