Washington, Oregon sue Trump admin for sharing Medicaid files with immigration enforcement
Washington and Oregon's attorneys general are suing the federal government for sharing residents' Medicaid records with federal immigration enforcement officials.
Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, alongside 13 other Democratic state attorneys general, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for sharing Medicaid patients' files with the Department of Homeland Security, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is housed. The Health and Human Services Department, it's secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the Homeland Security Department and it's secretary, Kristi Noem, are listed as defendants.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is leading the lawsuit, which also includes the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island.
The state attorneys argue that sharing personal health data violates federal administrative procedure laws and federal privacy laws. States are asking the court to block any new transfer of data, and the use of any data currently held by Homeland Security and ICE for immigration enforcement purposes.
Since Congress established Medicaid seven decades ago, 'federal law, policy, and practice has been clear: the personal healthcare data collected about beneficiaries of the program is confidential,' officials from Brown's office said in a news release.
On June 13, the state attorneys general learned through news reports that officials at the Health and Human Services Department transferred Medicaid data files to ICE officials. Those reports indicate that the federal government plans to create a database for mass deportations and other large-scale immigration enforcement purposes, Brown said in a news release.
'Washington residents expect that the confidential information they give to the government to access medical treatment will only be used for healthcare purposes,' Brown said in a news release. 'Their data should not go towards creating a giant database of Americans' personal information or used so that ICE can deport undocumented immigrants because they had to go to the doctor.'
Oregon and Washington are among seven states that offer Medicaid to eligible adults regardless of immigration status, and are among 14 states, plus Washington, D.C., that cover children regardless of immigration status. Oregon has 100,000 people enrolled in its 'Healthier Oregon' program, a state-funded program which provides access to Medicaid coverage regardless of immigration status, according to the Oregon Health Authority. About 49,000 people of the nearly 2 million people in Washington who rely on the state's Medicaid Program Apple Health have an immigration status that makes them ineligible for federal funding.
'This has a chilling impact on people who need healthcare in our country,' Rayfield said in the news release. 'Parents may choose not to take their kids to the doctor because they're afraid of what may happen. We need to protect the privacy and dignity of every person who calls Oregon home.'
UPDATED at 5:50 p.m. with information from the filed lawsuit and a link to the lawsuit.
This article was first published by the Oregon Capital Chronicle, part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com.
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