A federal court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to restart the transfer of certain Medicaid data to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement beginning Jan. 6, though the authorization is sharply limited in scope.
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California ruled that federal agencies may legally share narrow categories of Medicaid information with immigration authorities, including basic biographical details, contact information, and location data. USA Today first reported on the decision.
At the same time, Chhabria made clear that the ruling does not open the door to unrestricted access to Medicaid records. He stressed that an existing injunction remains in force and continues to prohibit the disclosure of other types of information, including data related to immigrants who are legally present in the United States.
“Beyond the basic information discussed above, the policies are totally unclear and do not appear to be the product of a coherent decision making process,” Chhabria wrote in his opinion.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed in July by 20 states, led by California, seeking to prevent the Department of Health and Human Services from sharing Medicaid-related information with immigration enforcement agencies. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office participated in the legal challenge, said the states were disappointed by the ruling that permits limited data sharing to go forward.
Federal officials supporting the policy welcomed the court’s decision. Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the ruling represents a win for the rule of law and for taxpayers.
The decision is being viewed as a partial victory for the administration’s broader push to expand coordination and information sharing among federal agencies involved in immigration enforcement.
Under federal law, illegal aliens are generally ineligible for full Medicaid benefits, though some may receive Emergency Medicaid coverage for life-saving treatment. Separately, a number of states, including California, provide state-funded health benefits to residents regardless of immigration status.
The Medicaid dispute is one of several recent legal battles over federal data sharing tied to immigration enforcement. In September, a federal judge in California temporarily blocked the Department of Agriculture from collecting information on recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Two months later, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., prohibited the Internal Revenue Service from providing tax return data to ICE.
Chhabria has not yet issued a final ruling in the Medicaid case. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 2 to address unresolved questions surrounding the administration’s data-sharing policies.
{Matzav.com}
President Donald Trump publicly warned this week that Hamas faces dire consequences if it fails to lay down its arms, declaring, “If they don’t disarm, it will be horrible for them — really, really bad.” He framed the demand as part of a wider regional strategy aimed at restoring stability in the Middle East, pointing to prior American actions against Iran and terror groups as steps building momentum toward peace.
Behind the scenes, Israeli and American officials have reportedly agreed on a far more specific timetable. According to a report published today by Yisroel Hayom, Israel and Washington have settled on a two-month deadline for Hamas to completely disarm.
Trump had earlier addressed the issue alongside Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu on Monday, telling reporters that Hamas would be given only “a very short period of time to disarm,” though he did not specify an exact timeframe at the time.
The reported understanding was reached later that night during a meeting between Netanyahu and Trump at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, according to the newspaper.
As part of the framework, US and Israeli officials are said to be working jointly to define precise criteria that would constitute full and verifiable disarmament by Hamas. The concern, according to the report, is that the terror group could attempt to turn over a limited cache of weapons while secretly preserving most of its military strength.
Both governments have reportedly agreed that such a scenario would be unacceptable. The plan demands the total dismantling of Hamas’ weapons reserves and military infrastructure, rather than any partial or symbolic compliance.
The proposed arrangement also calls for the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, including the destruction of Hamas’ vast underground tunnel system, which Israel says has been used to carry out attacks, transport arms, and provide protection for terrorists.
Israeli officials reportedly believe Hamas is unlikely to accept the ultimatum. If the group refuses to disarm within the two-month window, the report states that control over the next steps would revert to Israel and the Israel Defense Forces.
{Matzav.com}
During their talks in Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu delivered an updated security briefing to President Donald Trump, warning against any scenario that would permit Turkey to gain a foothold inside the Gaza Strip. According to a source familiar with the discussion, Netanyahu stressed to the president that Israel “will not be able to stand a Turkish presence on the ground in Gaza.”
Those concerns were sharpened by unease in Israel that the American president might be open to Ankara expanding its role in Gaza, particularly in light of Trump’s public comments indicating he has not ruled out approving the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.
At the heart of Netanyahu’s presentation was a detailed intelligence assessment indicating that Hamas remains heavily armed. The prime minister cited findings showing that the terror group is still holding roughly 60,000 Kalashnikov rifles inside Gaza.
Israeli media reported that the intelligence estimate was compiled ahead of the trip by the IDF’s intelligence branch together with the Shin Bet. The data, Netanyahu made clear, was meant to underscore Israel’s position that any future plans hinge on removing those weapons. “Without collecting these weapons, it is impossible to move on to the next stages,” was the central message conveyed to the Americans.
Channel 13 correspondent Moriah Asraf reported that Netanyahu framed the issue in unequivocal terms for the US administration, insisting that without a comprehensive effort to gather and dismantle Hamas’ arms stockpiles, there can be no discussion of civilian reconstruction or rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip.
{Matzav.com}
Federal and state investigators have renewed scrutiny of Minnesota’s child care system after previously unseen surveillance videos resurfaced, depicting conduct that authorities say illustrates how fraudulent day care operations allegedly exploited public funds.
The footage, recorded in 2015 but not made public until 2018, was obtained by Fox 9 and shows parents briefly bringing children into day care facilities, signing them in, and then leaving with the children almost immediately. Investigators said the sign-ins were used so providers could bill the state for full days of care that were never actually provided.
In some instances, the report said, no families appeared at all on certain days, yet the centers still submitted claims to the government for reimbursement.
Additional video obtained by Fox 9 appeared to show kickbacks tied to the alleged scheme. One clip shows a man handing an envelope to a parent, which investigators said was payment for participating in the fraudulent arrangement.
The videos resurfaced following public backlash over a viral exposé by independent journalist Nick Shirley, who documented multiple Minnesota child care centers that had received millions of dollars in state funding despite appearing inactive.
US Education Secretary Linda McMahon reacted sharply to the allegations, calling the situation a “breathtaking failure.”
Minnesota officials began addressing suspected child care fraud as early as 2014. By 2018, authorities were investigating dozens of businesses believed to have improperly collected millions of dollars in public money for services that were never delivered.
The controversy has also placed Gov. Tim Walz under criticism over other alleged abuses involving Medicaid-funded programs, including housing initiatives intended to help seniors and people with disabilities relocate into appropriate housing.
Law enforcement officials have said many of the alleged schemes are connected to Minnesota’s migrant Somali community, a characterization that has fueled both political and community tensions.
At the federal level, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau has sent investigators and resources to Minnesota as part of a broader effort to combat fraud targeting government assistance programs. He said the child care cases were “just the tip of a very large iceberg” and warned that Somali individuals convicted of fraud could face deportation.
{Matzav.com}
A Minneapolis day care known as the Quality “Learing” Center drew sudden attention Monday when children were seen entering and leaving the building, a scene neighbors say they rarely, if ever, witness. The activity followed the release of a viral video that questioned whether the facility was operating at all and suggested it might be tied to broader fraud involving state-funded programs.
One nearby resident told The NY Post that the presence of children earlier in the week stood out sharply from what they usually observe at the site. The neighbor described the bustle as “highly unusual.”
“We’ve never seen kids go in there until today. That parking lot is empty all the time, and I was under the impression that place is permanently closed,” the resident said.
When reporters monitored the location Monday, they observed a busy parking lot and roughly 20 children moving in and out of the building. That activity contrasted with footage posted online by YouTuber Nick Shirley, which depicted what appeared to be an unused facility with no children present.
In his video, Shirley questioned the lack of activity during his visit. “You do realize there’s supposed to be 99 children here in this building, and there’s no one here?” he asked a person who answered the door. At the time the video was recorded, no children could be seen inside. The center lists its operating hours as Monday through Thursday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Ibrahim Ali, who identified himself as the manager and said he is the owner’s son, told The Post that Shirley arrived before the center opened for the day.
“Do you go to a coffee shop at 11 p.m. and say, ‘Hey, they’re not working’?” Ali said.
Ali also addressed the widely mocked misspelling on the center’s exterior sign, placing blame on a graphic designer. “What I understand is [the owners] dealt with a graphic designer. He did it incorrectly. I guess they didn’t think it was a big issue,” said Ali, 26, who said he assists with homework and paperwork at the facility.
“That’s gonna be fixed,” he added.
It was not immediately known how long the misspelled sign has been displayed. Ali said there were about 16 children inside the center Monday afternoon.
Shirley’s video surfaced amid a sweeping scandal involving Minnesota’s taxpayer-funded social services system, including child care programs. Authorities are probing what has been described as an alleged scheme that could total up to $9 billion, with accusations that some businesses falsely claimed to provide services in order to collect government funds.
Despite the heightened scrutiny, Quality Learning has not been publicly identified by federal authorities as one of the businesses suspected in the ongoing investigation.
At 2 p.m. Monday, a woman who opened the center disputed Shirley’s claims and rejected accusations of wrongdoing. “We don’t have fraud. That’s a lie,” she said, before adding, “I don’t want to talk to you. I want to talk to my lawyer.”
Outside the building, another employee began recording a Post reporter on his phone while objecting to the questions being asked. “Don’t … come to this area. Get the …. out of here,” he said angrily.
Elsewhere in Minneapolis, ICE agents visited ABC Learning Center on Monday morning, part of the broader inquiry into the alleged misuse of public funds. The investigation has been reported to focus largely on members of the state’s Somali immigrant community.
“They wanted two months of attendance [records], we gave them two months of attendance,” said Ahmed Hasan, director of ABC Learning Center. He said agents told him they intended to verify whether everything was in order.
Hasan said Shirley’s visit to his facility was also unsettling. “That time ICE was coming for the Somali community. We were scared to open the door,” he said.
“They come with eight people. Five of them had masks. We thought they were ICE.”
Hasan criticized what he described as an unfair focus on Somali-owned day cares, calling it “a targeted situation,” and said the allegations facing his center and others in Minneapolis amounted to “a political game.”
{Matzav.com}
A revised medical framework for defining obesity could dramatically expand the number of American adults considered obese, according to new research that looks beyond body mass index alone and incorporates additional physical measurements and health indicators.
Using national health data collected between 2017 and 2023, researchers analyzed information from more than 14,000 people, representing roughly 237.7 million U.S. adults. When the broader criteria were applied, an estimated 75.2% of adults met the threshold for obesity. Under the traditional BMI-only approach, that figure stood at about 40%.
The analysis, published in JAMA Network Open, was conducted by investigators affiliated with Harvard University, Yale New Haven Health, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and was reported by ABC News.
The work was prompted by recommendations from the The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission, a collaboration between the medical journal and King’s Health Partners Diabetes, Endocrinology and Obesity. That commission proposed redefining obesity to include measurements such as waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist-to-height ratio, in addition to BMI.
Although the updated definition has been endorsed by more than 70 medical organizations worldwide, the study’s authors noted that its real-world impact had not previously been assessed.
“BMI is the standard measure for determining criteria for obesity. It’s the most widely known metric,” said Dr. Erica Spatz, a cardiologist at Yale School of Medicine and a co-author of the study.
Spatz explained that BMI on its own fails to capture the role of adipose tissue. While this type of tissue is less visible, it plays a central role in insulating organs, storing energy, and producing hormones that regulate appetite, and “is more associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.”
To reach their conclusions, the researchers relied on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationwide program run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that tracks the health of both children and adults across the country.
Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said the findings underscore the scale of the problem, even though she was not involved in the research.
“We do have a major problem,” Stanford said. “Obesity is by far the most significant chronic disease in human history … we need to be doing a better job of treating it, make sure that we have the clinicians that are trained to identify not only obesity itself, but the over 230 chronic diseases associated with it, and making sure that we have a healthier society.”
{Matzav.com}
