BRADDOCK, PA — U.S. Sen. John Fetterman is pressing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to repay medical providers for care delivered at detention facilities, citing $236,124.91 owed to a rural Pennsylvania ambulance service as payment delays strain providers serving both detainees and surrounding communities.
Fetterman, D-Pa., sent a letter last week to David J. Venturella, the senior official performing the duties of ICE director, demanding payment of outstanding medical bills and an accounting of the agency’s unpaid obligations.
Moshannon Valley Emergency Medical Services, based in Philipsburg, covers nearly 800 square miles and provides emergency medical care to about 41,000 Pennsylvania residents. The organization has 10 full-time employees, 35 part-time staff, and five ambulances, according to Fetterman’s letter.
MVEMS also serves the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, an ICE detention facility capable of holding nearly 1,900 people. Fetterman reported that ICE owed the ambulance service $236,124.91 in overdue payments as of Aug. 20.
“ICE should not and cannot rely on medical service providers like MVEMS to shoulder the financial and operational burden of federal immigration detention operations,” Fetterman wrote.
The payment disruption followed the October 2025 termination of a decades-long arrangement under which the Department of Veterans Affairs processed medical reimbursement claims for ICE, according to the senator.
ICE Health Service Corps planned to move claims processing to a new electronic provider portal with an expected April 30 launch. Fetterman reported that providers remained unable in September to submit reimbursement claims for emergency responses initiated through 911 calls and other care delivered to people in ICE custody or at ICE facilities.
ICE’s own MedPAR website currently directs providers to hold claims for services dating from Oct. 1, 2025, or later while ICE Health Service Corps brings a new third-party claims-processing system online.
The payment problem could affect care beyond detainees, Fetterman argued, because rural emergency providers have limited staffing, equipment and financial reserves while also serving surrounding communities.
ICE Health Service Corps oversees medical standards in contracted detention facilities and reimburses providers for off-site medical care received by people in ICE custody.
Fetterman requested a detailed accounting of what ICE owes medical providers, EMS agencies, hospitals, and other health care entities nationwide. If an exact total is unavailable, he asked the agency to estimate the obligation using historical averages adjusted for increased enforcement and detention activity.
The senator also requested an assessment of how the delays have affected detainee medical care and providers, along with a timetable for making the new payment system fully operational, resolving outstanding claims and preventing future disruptions.
Fetterman asked ICE to respond by Sept. 15.
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