Original Date Announced

Popular Information reports that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) abruptly ended its contract with ICE for processing ICE detainees' health services claims. For more than two decades, ICE paid the VA to handle reimbursement claims for ICE detainees who needed medical care outside detention facilities, such as medications, dialysis, prenatal care, and cancer treatment. The termination of the contract left ICE with no system to pay for or provide prescribed medication or off-site treatment.

ICE has sought no-bid contracts to replace the services the VA had previously processed, stating that immediate awards were needed to restore claims processing and benefits services to avoid delays in critical or life-saving care and prevent provider network deterioration caused by unpaid claims. ICE signed two contracts to replace the VA's role on October 25; however, those systems are still not functioning. Popular Information states that it is unclear how or if ICE detainees are receiving medication or obtaining outside medical care in the interim.

Trump 2.0 [ID #2080]

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.10.17 ICE - Medical Claims Processing Firm Fixed Price Letter

ICE has awarded Acentra Health, LLC with a firm-fixed price letter contract to serve as a third-party administrator responsible for claims processing and payment services.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.10.22 ICE - Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) Firm Fixed Price Letter

ICE has awarded Ardent Group, LLC, with a firm-fixed price letter contract to provide pharmaceutical benefit manager services.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.11.12 IHSC - New Claims Processing Notification

The ICE Health Service Corps website indicates that their new systems for processing service claims are not yet operational and cannot currently process claims. Providers are instructed to "hold all claim submissions while we work to bring the new systems online."

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2026.01.13 IHSC - New Claims Processing Notification

The ICE Health Service Corps website published a notice that it will not begin processing claims until April 30, 2026. The notice instructs medical providers to "hold all claim submissions while IHSC works to bring the new system online in the interim."

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2026.05.04 Reported: ICE has not paid for detainee medical care for 7 months - Popular Information

Popular Information reports that since October 2025, ICE has stopped reimbursing third parties for medical care provided to detainees in ICE custody, including dialysis, prenatal treatment, and chemotherapy, after the termination of its arrangement with the VA. Despite promises to restore payments on April 30, 2026, claims remain unpaid, and providers have been told to hold submissions. The decision to stop third-party reimbursements has coincided with a sharp rise in deaths in ICE custody, from an annual average of fewer than nine deaths before 2025 to 33 deaths in 2025 and 18 in just the first four months of 2026.