CMS reminds states public charge rule no longer in effect

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today reminded states’ Medicaid agencies that the Department of Homeland Security’s public charge final rule is no longer in effect, and that they “may only share information about a Medicaid applicant or beneficiary when sharing that information is directly related to administration of the Medicaid state plan.”

DHS removed the rule from the Code of Federal Regulations in March after the Biden administration abandoned the prior administration’s defense of the rule. Eleven states, led by the Arizona attorney general, have asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to permit them to defend the public charge policy.