State attorneys basic allege that the information is getting used for mass deportations and different large-scale immigration enforcement functions.
A coalition of 20 state attorneys basic filed a lawsuit in opposition to the Trump administration on July 1, difficult its choice handy over the private information of some Medicaid enrollees to the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS), which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The complaint, led by California Lawyer Normal Rob Bonta, was filed within the District Courtroom for the Northern District of California and alleges that the mass switch of knowledge violates federal well being privateness safety legal guidelines, together with the Well being Insurance coverage Portability and Accountability Act, in addition to the Federal Data Safety Modernization Act and the Privateness Act.
The attorneys basic are asking the courtroom to seek out that the administration’s switch of Medicaid information was unauthorized and unlawful underneath federal regulation, together with the Administrative Process Act. They’re looking for to dam the Division of Well being and Human Companies (HHS) from making additional transfers of such information to the DHS, the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), or another federal company.
The attorneys basic additionally requested the courtroom to stop any federal company from utilizing Medicaid information for immigration enforcement, inhabitants surveillance, or comparable functions, and to order the destruction of any information that has already been transferred.
“The Trump Administration has upended longstanding privateness protections with its choice to illegally share delicate, private well being information with ICE. In doing so, it has created a tradition of concern that can result in fewer individuals looking for important emergency medical care,” Bonta stated in a July 1 statement.
“We’re headed to courtroom to stop any additional sharing of Medicaid information—and to make sure any of the information that’s already been shared isn’t used for immigration enforcement functions.”
As of January 2025, 78.4 million individuals have been enrolled in Medicaid and the Kids’s Well being Insurance coverage Program throughout the USA, in accordance with the lawsuit.
The grievance notes that a specific amount of private information is routinely exchanged between the states and the federal authorities for the aim of verifying eligibility for Medicaid.
In June, California, Illinois, and Washington state discovered that HHS had disclosed “en masse” personal Medicaid information to DHS representing thousands and thousands of people, in accordance with the lawsuit.
All of these states enable unlawful immigrants to enroll in Medicaid packages that pay for his or her advantages utilizing solely state taxpayer {dollars}.
The info have been “personally identifiable, not anonymized or hashed, and … included Medicaid beneficiaries’ immigration standing and addresses, amongst different particulars,” the grievance states.
Plaintiffs within the lawsuit famous that HHS stated it handed over the large quantity of private information to DHS “to make sure that Medicaid advantages are reserved for people who’re lawfully entitled to obtain them.”
In Might, Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Companies, said his company and DOGE had recognized at the very least $14 billion in Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse, together with cash obtained by people who wrongly enrolled in this system throughout a number of states.
The context by which the information have been shared with ICE, nevertheless, “casts severe doubt on the federal government’s rationalization for its actions,” the attorneys basic wrote of their grievance.
They stated the federal authorities is creating a big database for “’mass deportations’ and different large-scale immigration enforcement and mass surveillance functions,” in accordance with the grievance.
“Plaintiffs convey this motion to guard their State Medicaid packages, and to stop them from being utilized in service of an anti-immigrant campaign, or different functions unrelated to administration of these packages,” the go well with states.
The states of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington have joined California within the lawsuit.
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon advised The Epoch Instances in an emailed assertion that the division “acted fully inside its authorized authority—and in full compliance with all relevant legal guidelines—to make sure that Medicaid advantages are reserved for people who’re lawfully entitled to obtain them.”
“Underneath the management of Dr. Oz, CMS is aggressively cracking down on states that could be misusing federal Medicaid funds to subsidize take care of unlawful immigrants—that features California,” Nixon stated. “This oversight effort—supported by lawful interagency information sharing with DHS—is concentrated on figuring out waste, fraud, and systemic abuse.”
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