New Mexico health care center allegedly denies care to people without proof of citizenship
Heinrich posted on his X account an image of a paper from one of the Ben Archer Health Care Centers, reading the following:
Ben Archer Health Center has over 10 locations in New Mexico, several of them in Las Cruces.
Heinrich's office verified that Ben Archer was employing the practice at school-based health clinics, scheduled appointments at standalone clinics and same-day appointment requests, the Senator's office said.
'The idea that kids should have to take their birth certificate to school to get care at the school health clinic? It's just ludicrous. We have skyrocketing grocery prices, a housing crisis, and now, a measles outbreak in New Mexico and Texas. We need our elected officials focused on fixing real issues and our health care providers focused on providing health care,' Heinrich said.
According to Heinrich's office, Ben Archer's leadership pointed at the executive order 'Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders' but has no bearing on the 'provision of health care to non-citizens.'
'What Ben Archer was pulling at its health clinics wasn't just wrong, it was illegal. I am glad they reversed course, and that they did it quickly. Let this be a lesson to all healthcare providers that we will hold you accountable for following the law,' Heinrich said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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The Hill
02-07-2025
- The Hill
Medicaid cuts could save thousands of lives
'A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes,' goes the well-known saying often attributed to Mark Twain. There is no better demonstration of this wisdom than today's falsehoods about Medicaid cuts that are reported, repeated, reposted and retweeted, even as the truth gets but a few eyeballs. NBC News recently predicted, 'Proposed Medicaid cuts could lead to thousands of deaths.' Other mainstream media claimed similar dire consequences while conflating loss of Medicaid coverage with loss of access to a physician's services. Yet it should be well-known by now that coverage does not equal care. For optimal decision-making, physicians and patients need an accurate picture of reality, not ideologically driven disinformation and unscientific statements bruited by the media and government officials. False narratives and fake news cannot be left unchallenged, and that includes the dramatic claims that proposed cuts would 'devastate our healthcare system.' The Trump administration seeks to make three modifications in the current Medicaid program: cutting illegal immigrants from the program; reducing federal contributions to Medicaid; and adding work requirements for able-bodied adults. On Feb. 19, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14218, 'Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders,' which began a process of removing illegal residents from all forms of taxpayer-funded social, financial and medical (Medicaid) support. States like California and Oregon have made more than 1 million illegals eligible for Medicaid coverage, even though federal laws prohibits their enrollment. The House version of the budget reconciliation bill cut 13 percent from the Medicaid budget over 10 years, $863 billion from an estimated $7 trillion outlay. Detractors assume the cuts will come from insurance coverage support, implying reduced care. But what about cutting non-clinical, regulatory spending? From 1970 to 2020, Congress implemented Medicare and Medicaid and passed the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986; the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995; the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996; and the Affordable Care Act of 2010, along with other lesser-known laws and numerous healthcare provisions buried in annual Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Acts. During those 50 years, while the physician supply increased 100 percent, the number of healthcare bureaucrats (who provide no clinical care) increased by 4,400 percent. This massive expansion of the nonclinical workforce diverted trillions of dollars from patient care to federal bureaucracy, unnecessary rules and regulations, directives, enforcement, and noncompliance activities. In fact, half of the $4.8 trillion the U.S. spent on healthcare in 2024 produced no medical care at all. The massive increase in bureaucratic spending was matched by a corresponding expansion of the regulatory burden imposed on care providers, both individuals and institutions. Not only did the expanded bureaucratic expense suck money away from patient care, it took doctors' time away from patients to comply with administrative paperwork. In 2024, Washington spent $584 billion on Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Presumably, some $292 billion went to bureaucracy taken from patient care. With a goal of cutting Medicaid by about $86 billion a year, removing illegal immigrants from enrollment per Executive Order 14218 would save approximately $10 billion. Regulatory reform such as block grants and DOGE-like bureaucratic simplification should easily cut the remaining $76 billion without impacting patient care at all — unless regulations are more important than people. As enrollment in Medicaid goes up and spending on both insurance and pointless bureaucracy increases, money to pay for patient care goes down. This produces longer wait times for care; the average maximum wait time to see a primary care physician was 132 days in 2022, a 33 percent increase since Obamacare. This inverse relationship – enrollment up, access to care down – is called the seesaw effect. So-called 'news' reporting reached a new low when the leftist website Vox described Medicaid as a 'rare bright spot' in U.S. healthcare. In fact, enrollees are experiencing death-by-queue, documented in Medicaid and Tricare. Patients wait so long for care, they often succumb to treatable illness while waiting in line for care that never comes. Even a one-month delay increases mortality in cancer. Imagine the effect of 132 days before seeing the doctor. Between 2019 and 2023, 20 million Americans were added to Medicaid rolls. Most were not medically vulnerable — they were healthy adults, thrown out of work by Joe Biden's COVID lockdowns. More than 60 percent of these have returned to work, and most are eligible for employer-supported health insurance. When Newsweek warns that 'millions could lose health insurance' with Medicaid cuts, these are people who shouldn't have Medicaid in the first place. Cutting them will release money that can be used for those who truly need a medical safety net. Medicaid cuts could make the seesaw reverse its path. Reduced enrollment and cuts to non-clinical spending could shorten wait times, make care more accessible, and reduce death-by-queue. No one in the media has reported this potential benefit from cuts to Medicaid. Work requirements are also a proposed modification to Medicaid. When work requirements were added to then-President Clinton's entitlement reform bill, the Patient Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reform Act of 1996, opponents emulated Chicken Little, crying that there would be 'blood in the streets' and children would starve to death. They were wrong. Outcomes data 20 years later showed improvement in every fiscal, employment, nutritional and social metric. A full 60 percent were able to get off the welfare rolls. Today's opponents of work requirements are making dire but similarly false predictions. Modifications to the Medicaid program will do the opposite of the left's doomsday predictions. Instead of 'Medicaid cuts could lead to thousands of deaths,' the NBC headline should read, 'Medicaid cuts could save thousands of lives.' Deane Waldman, M.D., MBA, is professor emeritus of pediatrics, pathology, and decision science; former director of the Center for Healthcare Policy at Texas Public Policy Foundation; former director of New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange; and author of 13 books, including his latest: 'Empower Patients – Two Doctors' Cure for Healthcare.'


Newsweek
14-06-2025
- Newsweek
Trump Administration Shares Medicaid Data With Deportation Officials: Report
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump's administration provided immigration officials with the personal data of millions of Medicaid recipients this week, including their immigration status, the Associated Press reported. Newsweek contacted the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for comment on Saturday via online press inquiry forms. Why It Matters During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump pledged to carry out the largest mass deportation program in U.S. history. Since returning to office on January 20, the president has overseen widespread Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations across the country. The administration's use of Medicaid data, which could be used to track migrants, has raised questions about data security and federal government power. What To Know Citing an internal memo and emails, the AP reported that two close advisers to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered officials at the CMS to transfer Medicaid data to immigration enforcement personnel at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday. The publication said the order was given after Medicaid employees initially sought to prevent the transfer based on legal and ethical concerns, and that they were given 54 minutes to comply with the renewed request. The information handed over included data from California, Washington state, Illinois and Washington, D.C.—all of which allow non-U.S. citizens to apply for state-funded Medicaid. President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 12. President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 12. SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY DHS employees' use of the data could affect migrants' ability to apply for permanent residency or citizenship if they have received federally funded Medicaid. Under the Trump administration's direction, the Internal Revenue Service has also been providing information to ICE that could help track illegal migrants. A legal bid to block the order was defeated in May. Last month, the CMS announced a review into Medicaid enrollment to ensure federal money had not been used to fund coverage for those with "unsatisfactory immigration status." The agency said the move was to comply with the "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders" executive order that Trump issued on February 19. What People Are Saying Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, said in statement provided to Newsweek: "HHS and CMS take the integrity of the Medicaid program and the protection of American taxpayer dollars extremely seriously. With respect to the recent data sharing between CMS and DHS, HHS acted entirely within its legal authority—and in full compliance with all applicable laws—to ensure that Medicaid benefits are reserved for individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them. He continued: "This action is not unprecedented. What is unprecedented is the systemic neglect and policy failures under the Biden-Harris administration that opened the floodgates for illegal immigrants to exploit Medicaid—and forced hardworking Americans to foot the bill." Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said Trump had "promised to protect Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries. To keep that promise after Joe Biden flooded our country with tens of millions of illegal aliens CMS and DHS are exploring an initiative to ensure that illegal aliens are not receiving Medicaid benefits that are meant for law-abiding Americans." California Governor Gavin Newsom said: "This potential data transfer brought to our attention by the AP is extremely concerning, and if true, potentially unlawful, particularly given numerous headlines highlighting potential improper federal use of personal information and federal actions to target the personal information of Americans." What Happens Next The Trump administration is expected to continue its hard-line immigration policies. It remains to be seen whether the transfer of data from the HHS to the DHS will be challenged in court.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Yahoo
City to offer free measles vaccines at Juneteenth event
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The City of El Paso Public Health Department will offer free measles (MMR) vaccines during the Juneteenth celebration this weekend. The event will be from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 14 at Nations Tobin Park, 8831 Railroad Dr. City officials also remind residents to regularly check the Measles Information Dashboard for updates on confirmed cases, demographic data, and vaccination status. The dashboard is updated daily around 9 a.m. and is available at under the Measles information page. The City also said that anyone who was at El Paso International Airport from 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. May 31 and June 1-2 should monitor their symptoms and check their immunization status. People who were at the airport at that time were potentially exposed to the measles, the City said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.