The federal health department is sharing Medicaid recipients' personal data with the Homeland Security Department, HHS confirmed to Axios. The big picture: The arrangement raises privacy and security concerns for critics — including around whether the information is being used to deport undocumented immigrants.

Local and nationwide hospital margins have seen more stability in recent months, crawling out of a period of shaky financials, low revenues and steeply rising prices. But the relative calm may not last long given looming changes to Medicaid, tariffs and other forces, according to Chicago-based Strata Decision Technologies.

What’s more appalling a $1 trillion reduction in Medicaid or the potential that those reductions will lead to thousands of unnecessary deaths each year? Both are now up for consideration, and the statistics are not to be overlooked,

States must begin verifying millions of Medicaid enrollees’ monthly work status by the end of next year — a task some critics say states will have a hard time carrying out. A provision in the tax and spending bill President Donald Trump signed into law July 4 will require the 40 states plus Washington,