CLEAR's Landmark Medicare Deal: A New ID for the Public Sector

NEW YORK, NY – December 09, 2025 – Secure identity company CLEAR (NYSE: YOU) has secured a pivotal federal contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a move that signals a significant commercial breakthrough for the company beyond its well-known presence in airports and stadiums. The partnership will integrate CLEAR's CLEAR1 identity platform into Medicare.gov, fundamentally changing how millions of beneficiaries and providers verify their identity to access critical healthcare information. This deal is not just a product integration; it is a major validation of CLEAR’s technology and a strategic entry into the vast and complex U.S. public sector market, positioning the company at the heart of the government's push for digital modernization.

For investors and industry analysts, this contract represents a key commercialization milestone. By becoming the identity verification engine for the single largest healthcare payer in the United States, CLEAR is transitioning from a consumer convenience service to a critical infrastructure provider for government services, unlocking substantial new avenues for growth and revenue.

A New Digital Front Door for Medicare

The partnership is a cornerstone of the ambitious CMS Health Tech Ecosystem initiative, a nationwide program launched in July 2025 to create a more connected and patient-centered healthcare system. A central goal of this initiative is to “kill the clipboard” by reducing administrative friction and empowering patients with seamless, real-time access to their own health records. However, achieving this vision requires a secure and user-friendly digital front door—something many government platforms have struggled to provide.

Current identity verification systems on government websites are often cited as a major pain point for users. Complex password requirements, multi-step recovery processes, and a reliance on legacy security checks create barriers to access, particularly for the senior population that Medicare primarily serves. More critically, these outdated methods have become prime targets for fraud. Attackers increasingly leverage publicly available personal data, sophisticated AI-generated synthetic identities, and deepfake technology to create fraudulent accounts and gain unauthorized access to sensitive information.

CLEAR's integration is designed to directly address these vulnerabilities. By replacing legacy systems with a modern, multi-layered verification process, CMS aims to fortify Medicare.gov against fraud while simultaneously simplifying the user experience. The plan, set for an early 2026 rollout, will allow beneficiaries to create accounts, recover access, and log in with greater ease—potentially with something as simple as a quick selfie—without compromising security.

Fortifying the Gates: The Technology Behind the Deal

At the core of this partnership is CLEAR's CLEAR1 platform, a technology built to meet the stringent security demands of handling protected health information. The platform’s selection by CMS hinges on its robust compliance and certification portfolio, which serves as a critical differentiator in the high-stakes government contracting space. CLEAR1 is fully HIPAA-compliant, ensuring it meets federal law for protecting the privacy and security of health data.

Furthermore, the platform is Full Service certified by the Kantara Initiative for NIST IAL2 and AAL2 standards. In practical terms, this certification provides a high degree of assurance for both CMS and its users:

• Identity Assurance Level 2 (IAL2): This standard signifies moderate confidence that an individual's claimed identity is their real identity. It requires either remote or in-person proofing of identity documents, moving far beyond simple knowledge-based checks that can be easily compromised.
• Authenticator Assurance Level 2 (AAL2): This requires multi-factor authentication, ensuring that the person logging in has control of a secure authenticator (like a smartphone) that is bound to their verified identity. This protects against account takeovers even if login credentials are stolen.

This high-assurance framework is what allows CLEAR to offer a user-friendly experience, like biometric verification, without sacrificing security. By linking a user’s verified identity to their biometrics, the system creates a secure and reusable digital credential. This approach not only streamlines access for legitimate users but also raises a formidable barrier against the automated and AI-driven attacks plaguing digital systems today, helping to restore trust in digital access to care.

From Airports to Agencies: A Strategic Leap for CLEAR

This contract marks a transformative moment for CLEAR's business strategy. While the company has over 36 million members and a strong foothold in the travel and entertainment sectors, the CMS partnership represents its most significant foray into the public sector, a market with immense scale and long-term potential. It validates the company's long-stated mission to expand its identity platform into new verticals, particularly healthcare.

“CLEAR’s mission is to make experiences safer and easier by securely connecting people to their true identity,” said Caryn Seidman Becker, CEO of CLEAR, in the company’s announcement. “Bringing CLEAR1 to Medicare.gov builds on that work and reflects our long-standing commitment to improving access to care.”

The government digital identity space is competitive, with established players like ID.me holding significant contracts with agencies such as the IRS and the Social Security Administration, and the government's own Login.gov serving as a shared service. CLEAR’s success in winning the CMS contract highlights its ability to differentiate its offering based on a seamless user experience and a proven, scalable biometric network. The company is not new to the healthcare space, having already established partnerships with major health systems like Wellstar Health and technology platforms like Epic and Sharecare. This existing ecosystem provides a solid foundation for its work with CMS and demonstrates a deep understanding of the sector's unique challenges.

This federal breakthrough could serve as a powerful blueprint for further expansion. A successful implementation with CMS would create a compelling case study for other federal and state agencies—from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to state-level health and human services departments—that are also grappling with the dual challenges of improving digital access and combating identity fraud. The partnership positions CLEAR not merely as a vendor, but as a key enabler of digital transformation in public services, translating its innovative prototype for frictionless identity into profitable, high-impact government contracts.