Sacramento, CA – The National Health Law Program (NHeLP) welcomes yesterday’s decision by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria to temporarily block the Trump administration from sharing Medicaid recipients’ confidential information with immigration enforcement agencies. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of 19 other states and applies only to data obtained from those states. While the decision is an important step, more needs to be done to safeguard Medicaid data.
“Medicaid enrollees have a right to expect that their personal and health information will remain private,” said Sarah Grusin, Senior Attorney at NHeLP. “Turning over that information to immigration enforcement not only violates those protections, it sends a dangerous message that will keep people from enrolling in coverage or getting the care they need.”
Last month, NHeLP filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services seeking records related to the disclosure of personally identifiable information of immigrants to the Department of Homeland Security. The request focuses on the role of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in sharing Medicaid-related data with DHS for immigration enforcement purposes.
“Sharing people’s personal information erodes trust in health care systems and is having a chilling effect on immigrant families seeking care,” said Kim Lewis, Managing Director of California Advocacy at NHeLP. “People should not have to fear that participating in Medicaid will expose them or their loved ones to immigration enforcement.”
