Mass. AG Campbell sues Trump admin for sharing private health info with ICE
The lawsuit, filed by Democrat Campbell and 19 of her colleagues nationwide, in U.S. District Court in California's Northern District on Tuesday, names U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert K. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem as defendants.
"Disclosing individuals' private health data for the purpose of immigration enforcement puts lives at risk. These actions are yet another example of the Administration creating unnecessary fear and confusion among our residents,' Campbell said in a statement.
Read More: Renowned Boston restaurant considers closing after manager is detained by ICE
'Congress has made it clear that emergency Medicaid coverage extends to all individuals, regardless of immigration status. I will continue to fight against cruel and unlawful policies that harm our residents,' she said.
Kennedy's advisers ordered the release of a dataset that includes the private health information of people living in California, Illinois, Washington state, and Washington, D.C., to the Department of Homeland Security, The Associated Press first reported last month.
All of those states allow non-U.S. citizens to enroll in Medicaid programs that pay for their expenses using only state taxpayer dollars.
Read More: Mass. AG Campbell sues Trump over obscure rule used to withhold federal funding to states
The unusual data sharing of private health information, including addresses, names, social security numbers, immigration status, and claims data for enrollees in those states, was released to deportation officials as they accelerated enforcement efforts nationwide.
The data could be used to help the Department of Homeland Security locate migrants in its mass deportation campaign, experts said.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who led the legal action, said the Trump administration's data release violates federal health privacy protection laws, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the AP reported.
'This is about flouting seven decades of federal law policy and practice that have made it clear that personal healthcare data is confidential and can only be shared in certain narrow circumstances that benefit the public's health or the Medicaid program,' Bonta said during a news conference on Tuesday.
The Trump administration has sought to arm deportation officials with more data on immigrants.
In May, for example, a federal judge refused to block the Internal Revenue Service from sharing immigrants' tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help agents locate and detain people living without legal status in the U.S.
The lawsuit filed by Campbell and her colleagues asks a federal judge to block any new transfer or use of this data for immigration enforcement purposes.
It argues that the administration violated a brace of federal laws, including the Administrative Procedure Act, Social Security Act, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Federal Information Security Modernization Act, Privacy Act, and Spending Clause.
The lawsuit also 'highlights that the Trump Administration's illegal actions are creating fear and confusion that will lead noncitizens and their family members to disenroll, or refuse to enroll, in emergency Medicaid for which they are otherwise eligible, leaving states and their safety net hospitals to foot the bill for federally mandated emergency healthcare services,' Cambell's office said in its statement.
Other states joining the legal action included Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
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