NOTUS⁠0%

The Company Processing ICE’s Medical Payments Hasn’t Paid Out a Dime ⁠34%

By Jackie Llanos⁠0%

7/6/2026, 9:13:00 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 19 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Post Hoc (False Cause), and Framing Effect, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 19.1% saturation with 137 hits. Analysis detected 870 faulty-reasoning hits from 717 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 42% and a BS Rank of ⁠34% (14,520 of 21,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 66.30% of the article peer group.

The company hired to process payments to health providers caring for people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s custody has so far paid zero dollars for those services. 
Acentra Health, the Virginia-based company that signed on in October to process the payments, has pushed back the timeline for doing so by several months and most recently said it would start reimbursements later this year.<b> </b>Those payments are meant to go to dentists, pharmacies, emergency departments and others for providing offsite care for immigrants. 
Health care providers are seeing immigrants in ICE detention without getting paid. 
And it’s raising concerns that if the money doesn’t come through, immigrants will stop receiving treatment. 
“I think the question goes to ICE,” said Deborah Fleischaker, acting ICE chief of staff during the Biden administration. 
“Is this acceptable? 
Are they meeting the terms of the contract? 
Why are you continuing with them? 
How long are you going to go without having these claims processed before you can’t find people to provide medical care?” 
The contract is worth millions. 
As of June 4<b>,</b> Acentra Health<b> </b>had received $44.6 million of the $67.5 million contract, which is set to end on July 31, according to a federal government <span class="LinkEnhancement"><a class="Link" href="https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_70CDCR26C00000002_7012_-NONE-_-NONE-" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><u>contracting database</u></a></span>. 
In <span class="LinkEnhancement"><a class="Link" href="https://static.notus.org/fb/28/1e9019ae445a9d480b8f2962d438/1-5-1-ja-urgent-and-compelling-claims-redacted-2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a contracting document</a></span>, ICE said that payment processing was essential to ensure proper care for detainees. 
“ICE’s ability to pay for medically necessary offsite care has been compromised since ICE has no system in place to process or pay medical claims,” the November document states. 
“It is an absolute emergency for ICE to immediately procure claims processing support because lack of this support will delay critical medical care for IAs such as dialysis, prenatal care, oncology, chemotherapy, etc.” 
Lindsey Rodarmer, an Acentra Health spokesperson, said in an email that the <span class="LinkEnhancement"><a class="Link" href="https://www.notus.org/congress/house-votes-to-end-record-breaking-dhs-shutdown-senate-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><u>Department of Homeland Security shutdown</u></a></span> that lasted from February to the end of April caused the delay. 
ICE also said multiple shutdowns had caused the delay. 
“ICE and its partners are working to get all payments up to date,” a spokesperson wrote in an email to NOTUS after publication of this article. 
Acentra Health, which other federal agencies have contracted with in the past, currently says on its website that it would begin processing claims from health care providers working with detention centers between July and September. 
Rodarmer said only<b> </b>that<b> </b>payments would start “later this year.” 
That timeline is already a delay from what was initially promised. 
At first, the payments were expected to begin by April 30, according to a <span class="LinkEnhancement"><a class="Link" href="https://www.ice.gov/detain/ice-health-service-corps/ihs-managed-care" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><u>notification</u></a></span> on ICE’s website. 
Then, the timeline moved to sometime between April and June, independent journalist <span class="LinkEnhancement"><a class="Link" href="https://popular.info/p/ice-has-not-paid-for-detainee-medical" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><u>Judd Legum</u></a></span> reported in May. 
The company has committed to providing an automated processing system that it says will result in faster reimbursements. 
“We are launching a new, user-friendly portal designed specifically to speed up your workflows and simplify administrative tasks,” the company’s website says. 
Once Acentra Health’s portal goes live, providers will have to wait 30 days for reimbursement after submitting a claim, according to its <span class="LinkEnhancement"><a class="Link" href="https://ihsc-dhs.acentra.com/faq/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><u>FAQ section</u></a></span>. 
ICE rushed into the contract with Acentra Health after the Department of Veteran Affairs abruptly canceled its medical claims support for ICE in October.<b> </b>The agreement, which the VA and ICE started more than two decades ago, faced backlash from Republicans, who <span class="LinkEnhancement"><a class="Link" href="https://bost.house.gov/2023/12/bost-introduces-bill-blocking-va-funding-for-illegal-migrants" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><u>claimed that it took resources away from veterans</u></a></span> during the Biden administration. 
Legum’s <span class="LinkEnhancement"><a class="Link" href="https://popular.info/p/exclusive-how-the-trump-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><u>Popular Information</u></a></span> newsletter first reported that the VA had ended that arrangement. 
ICE has started looking for other companies capable of handling the job of processing payments, according to a <span class="LinkEnhancement"><a class="Link" href="https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/8ba2439b91574cbebc455720224f2fca/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><u>contracting opportunity</u></a></span> it published on June 16. 
The agency is searching the market for firms able to process a workload of 300,000 medical claims a year on average. 
The first question ICE wants potential contractors to answer: “What are your typical and realistic timeline for transitioning complex and comprehensive claims adjudication and provider reimbursement services (i.e. the system will be fully operational and all staff onboarded)?” 
<i>Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.</i> 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 2.3%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.2%NOTUS: 1.2%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 3.1%Jackie Llanos: 0.8%NOTUS: 2.2%Availability Heuristic3.1%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 1.1%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.5%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 1.4%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 9.8%Jackie Llanos: 9.7%NOTUS: 6.6%Framing Effect9.8%This article: 1.7%Jackie Llanos: 0.4%NOTUS: 0.1%Loss Aversion1.7%This article: 4.9%Jackie Llanos: 1.2%NOTUS: 0.9%Status Quo Bias4.9%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.1%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 6.1%Jackie Llanos: 5.5%NOTUS: 3.3%Optimism Bias6.1%This article: 5.2%Jackie Llanos: 3.1%NOTUS: 3.0%Pessimism Bias5.2%This article: 19.1%Jackie Llanos: 6.9%NOTUS: 10.5%Negativity Bias19.1%This article: 4.7%Jackie Llanos: 4.2%NOTUS: 2.2%Self-Serving Bias4.7%This article: 2.6%Jackie Llanos: 0.7%NOTUS: 0.9%Fundamental Attribution Error2.6%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 2.1%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.5%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 4.9%Jackie Llanos: 2.4%NOTUS: 1.3%Halo Effect4.9%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.1%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 1.5%Jackie Llanos: 0.4%NOTUS: 1.2%Recency Bias1.5%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.3%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 1.0%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 12.1%Jackie Llanos: 4.8%NOTUS: 4.7%Appeal to Authority12.1%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 1.0%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 9.8%Jackie Llanos: 5.4%NOTUS: 0.5%Slippery Slope9.8%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 4.9%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 2.1%NOTUS: 0.8%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.9%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 8.1%Jackie Llanos: 6.6%NOTUS: 3.5%Appeal to Emotion8.1%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.7%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 10.0%Jackie Llanos: 4.0%NOTUS: 2.6%Post Hoc (False Cause)10.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 1.1%Jackie Llanos: 0.3%NOTUS: 0.4%Burden of Proof1.1%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 1.5%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.2%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 5.3%Jackie Llanos: 1.7%NOTUS: 1.6%Ambiguity (Equivocation)5.3%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.2%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.1%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 1.8%NOTUS: 2.2%Unattributed Quote0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 2.2%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.4%NOTUS: 4.1%Biased Writer Voice0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 0.8%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Jackie Llanos: 0.0%NOTUS: 1.5%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 8.2%Jackie Llanos: 2.1%NOTUS: 0.6%Politically Right Leaning Bias8.2%This article: 3.1%Jackie Llanos: 2.3%NOTUS: 1.2%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…3.1%

717 words analyzed.

Speakers

4speakers52%attributed speech346writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 27 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 55 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageDeborah Fleischaker • 19 words • 0.0% coverageDeborah Fleischaker • 3 words • 0.0% coverageDeborah Fleischaker • 8 words • 0.0% coverageDeborah Fleischaker • 6 words • 0.0% coverageDeborah Fleischaker • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 35 words • 0.0% coverageICE • 22 words • 0.0% coverageICE • 29 words • 0.0% coverageICE • 33 words • 0.0% coverageLindsey Rodarmer • 34 words • 0.0% coverageICE • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 0.0% coverageAcentra Health • 35 words • 0.0% coverageLindsey Rodarmer • 10 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageICE • 23 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageAcentra Health • 22 words • 100.0% coverageAcentra Health • 29 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 59 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageICE • 30 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageICE • 38 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Lindsey Rodarmer

100%flagged-word coverage
44 attributed words12% of attributed speech68% writer coverage
0%10.0%20.0%Politically Right Leaning -17.1 ptsWriter: 17.1%Lindsey Rodarmer: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.