The Trump administration is set to begin sharing sensitive personal information of nearly 79 million Medicaid enrollees, including their home addresses and ethnic backgrounds, with federal immigration authorities. This move comes as President Trump aims to intensify deportation efforts across the nation. In a recent statement to NBC News, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, described this data-sharing agreement between her agency and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as a necessary step to prevent undocumented immigrants from accessing Medicaid benefits.
The Associated Press first reported on this new data-sharing agreement, which has yet to be publicly disclosed. Currently, immigrants without legal status, along with some immigrants who are lawfully present, are already prohibited from enrolling in Medicaid, a federal health program that provides nearly free medical coverage to eligible beneficiaries. However, it is important to note that federal law mandates all states to provide emergency Medicaid, which offers temporary coverage strictly for lifesaving services in emergency situations, regardless of an individual’s immigration status. Medicaid is a program jointly funded by the states and the federal government.
Under the terms of the new agreement, officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be able to access Medicaid data to obtain identity and location information of individuals they suspect are residing in the country unlawfully. Reports indicate that ICE will gain access to a comprehensive database that includes names, addresses, birth dates, racial and ethnic information, as well as Social Security numbers of all individuals enrolled in Medicaid.
The agreement stipulates that ICE can conduct reviews of the database only during business hours, specifically from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, until September 9. Importantly, ICE is prohibited from downloading any data from this database.
In response to this controversial initiative, California Attorney General Rob Bonta has announced that the state is swiftly pursuing a court order to block the sharing of personal health data for immigration enforcement purposes. Bonta expressed deep concerns, stating, “It is devastating to think that individuals may not seek essential medical care because they are afraid that if they do so, they may be targeted by this administration.” He emphasized that the president’s tactics of utilizing personal, private, and unrelated health data to create a “mass deportation machine” must not continue.
Earlier this month, California was part of a coalition of 19 states, which included New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Oregon, that filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its decision to share personal health data with ICE. A hearing regarding this matter is scheduled for August 7, according to Bonta's office.
