A federal judge in Seattle has ordered the government to keep funding Medicaid for legally present Washington noncitizens on Supplemental Security Income, including refugees and people granted asylum. Attorney General Nick Brown’s office says the preliminary injunction, ordered September 30, protects coverage for nearly 1,000 Washingtonians while the case goes on.
For a refugee or asylee on SSI, the question is whether Medicaid is safe. For now it is, under the order. The attorney general’s office says the injunction is meant to protect all qualified Washingtonians as the case proceeds, and the federal government had not appealed it as of October 16.
Retirement deadlines, in your inbox: Miss an enrollment or claim deadline and the money can be gone. Join the Retirement Money Brief and we’ll send you our SSI & Disability Income Checkup as a welcome gift.
Get the Brief + the SSI checkup →
We may earn a commission from links on this page.
What Judge Zilly ordered, and for whom
The case is Neighborhood House and Mariia Matsai v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle before Judge Thomas S. Zilly. Neighborhood House is a Seattle nonprofit, and Matsai is a noncitizen Washington resident. The state attorney general announced on October 16 that it was stepping in.
The group at issue is legal noncitizens who receive SSI, including refugees and people granted asylum. The attorney general’s office says many are elderly with significant medical needs, many fled conflicts abroad and need long-term care, and for many Medicaid pays for their housing.
Judge Zilly granted the plaintiffs’ motion after a September 29 hearing, according to the state’s filing, and the injunction applies statewide. It requires the federal government to continue funding Medicaid benefits for these individuals while the lawsuit proceeds.
Why SSI recipients are caught in the H.R. 1 fight
Under federal law, people eligible for SSI are also eligible for Medicaid. SSI has strict rules: recipients generally must have a serious disability or blindness, or be over 65, and have little income or few resources. The attorney general says the 2025 budget law, H.R. 1, excluded many legal immigrants from federal health programs but did not change the law on SSI eligibility.
A letter from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to state health officials, dated April 8, 2026, is what Neighborhood House sued over. According to the state’s proposed complaint, it says federal matching money ends October 1, 2026, for noncitizens other than lawful permanent residents, Cuban and Haitian entrants and Compact of Free Association migrants. The complaint says that sweeps in asylees, refugees, parolees and trafficking victims.
The complaint adds that a July 31 CMS tool tells states to redetermine eligibility for potentially affected beneficiaries. The attorney general’s office calls the April guidance illegal. Brown said the state has “a clear interest in protecting our neediest residents,” many of whom fled warzones.
Janice Deguchi, Neighborhood House’s executive director, said the attorney general’s involvement helps preserve life-sustaining services for vulnerable Washingtonians. She said H.R. 1 “will strip coverage and cause deep, lasting harm” to consumers and providers that rely on Medicaid. The release carries no statement from HHS or CMS.
The April letter also says, according to the state’s complaint, that states need not provide state-only coverage for the affected people and that such coverage would not count as Medicaid. That leaves a state budget as the only fallback, and the complaint says the Legislature has not appropriated money to replace the lost federal share.
Apple Health covers long-term services and supports through the state Department of Social and Health Services. The complaint says many SSI recipients need help with daily self-care tasks and so qualify for that care, which is why the attorney general’s office stresses elderly recipients with significant medical needs.
Neighborhood House is represented with help from Northwest Health Law Advocates and the firm Barnard, Iglitzin & Lavitt, the release says. The attorney general’s office asked the court for permission to intervene, arguing Washington has an interest in its Medicaid program serving all similarly situated residents.
What Washington is asking the court to do
On October 16 the state filed a motion to intervene as a plaintiff, noted for the court’s consideration on November 6. Its complaint raises claims under the Administrative Procedure Act. It asks the court to declare the CMS guidance contrary to law and arbitrary, to vacate it and to bar the government from carrying it out.
The filing puts numbers on the state’s exposure. It says roughly 14,000 Washington Medicaid beneficiaries are noncitizens outside the three groups the guidance exempts, that over 1,000 noncitizens receive SSI and that several hundred get Medicaid-funded long-term care. The state says it will update those figures in a later filing.
The proposed complaint says Apple Health, the state’s Medicaid program, insures about 1.9 million people and that federal money covers an average of 67 percent of its spending on eligible enrollees. It says the Legislature has not set aside money to replace lost federal funds, and warns that people who lose coverage would turn to emergency care at safety-net hospitals.
What the order does not settle
A preliminary injunction holds the line while a case proceeds; it is not a final ruling. The court is still weighing Washington’s request to intervene, and the state’s challenge to the CMS guidance has yet to be decided. The sources describe the injunction as statewide in Washington and say nothing about other states.
The next dates to watch are the November 6 consideration of the state’s motion and any federal appeal of the injunction. For refugees and asylees on SSI, the open question is how long the order keeps the federal share of Medicaid in place.
Is SSI-linked Medicaid safe while the case runs?
Medicaid for these residents rides on staying eligible for SSI, so a missed review or an unreported change can end the SSI that the coverage depends on. A court order protects the federal funding. It does nothing about the paperwork.
The SSI & Disability Action Kit lists the 2026 SSI income and resource limits and the review and reporting steps, including Part 5, Reviews, Reporting and Overpayments. It also has an income and resource organizer, so each month’s numbers are on one page when a review letter arrives.
Get the 2026 SSI limits and review steps in one kit →
More Financial Reading
- 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- 15 Ways Out of 22% Credit Card Interest
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
