California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has expressed concern for the privacy of immigrants in his state, following reports that the Trump administration has shared Medicaid data with immigration officials.
An internal memo and emails obtained by the Associated Press showed that Medicaid officials unsuccessfully sought to block the data transfer, citing legal and ethical concerns.
Nevertheless, two top advisers to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the dataset handed over to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the emails show. Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) were given just 54 minutes on Tuesday to comply with the directive.
“We deeply value the privacy of all Californians,” Newsom’s office told Newsweek in a statement. “This action by the federal government has implications for every person on Medicaid, but it is especially alarming for our immigrants and American mixed-status families who are already under relentless, indiscriminate attack by this administration. The federal government continues to instill fear across this nation and shroud its continued violation of Americans’ privacy rights in propaganda.”
Newsweek reached out to DHS and the Department for Health and Human Services for comment via email and contact form Friday afternoon.
Why It Matters
Reports of increased data sharing between federal agencies for the purpose of immigration enforcement have caused concerns for several weeks. The Trump administration has said the data is vital in finding illegal immigrants who should be deported.
What To Know
The dataset included the information of people living in California, Illinois, Washington state and Washington, D.C., all of which allow non-U.S. citizens to enroll in Medicaid programs that pay for their expenses using only state taxpayer dollars. CMS transferred the information just as the Trump administration was ramping up its enforcement efforts in Southern California.
Newsom’s office said it was concerned about how deportation officials might utilize the data, especially as federal authorities conduct immigration raids with the assistance of National Guard troops and Marines in Los Angeles.
Besides helping authorities locate migrants, experts said, the government could also use the information to scuttle the hopes of migrants seeking green cards, permanent residency or citizenship if they had ever obtained Medicaid benefits funded by the federal government.
CMS announced late last month that it was reviewing some states’ Medicaid enrollees to ensure federal funds have not been used to pay for coverage for people with “unsatisfactory immigration status.” In a letter sent to state Medicaid officials, CMS said that the effort was part of Trump’s February 19 executive order titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders.”
As part of the review, California, Washington and Illinois shared details about non-U.S. citizens who have enrolled in their state’s Medicaid program, according to a June 6 memo signed by Medicaid Deputy Director Sara Vitolo that was obtained by AP. The memo was written by several CMS officials under Vitolo’s supervision, according to sources familiar with the process.
The data includes addresses, names, Social Security numbers and claims data for enrollees in those states, according to the memo and two people familiar with what the states sent to CMS. Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share details about the data exchange.
CMS officials attempted to fight the data sharing request from Homeland Security, saying that complying would violate federal laws, including the Social Security Act and the Privacy Act of 1974, according to Vitolo’s memo.
“Multiple federal statutory and regulatory authorities do not permit CMS to share this information with entities outside of CMS,” Vitolo wrote, further explaining that the sharing of such personal data is allowed only for directly administering the Medicaid program.
Sharing information about Medicaid applicants or enrollees with DHS officials would violate a “longstanding policy,” wrote Vitolo, a career employee, to Trump appointee Kim Brandt, deputy administrator and chief operating officer of CMS.
The legal arguments outlined in the memo were not persuasive to Trump appointees at HHS, which oversees Medicaid.
Four days after the memo was sent, on June 10, HHS officials directed the transfer of “the data to DHS by 5:30 ET today,” according to email exchanges obtained by AP.
Former government officials said the move was unusual because CMS, which has access to personal health data for nearly half of the country, does not typically share such sensitive information with other departments.
“DHS has no role in anything related to Medicaid,” said Jeffrey Grant, a former career employee at CMS.
Beyond her legal arguments, Vitolo said sharing the information with DHS could have a chilling effect on states, perhaps prompting them to withhold information. States, she added, needed to guard against the “legal risk” they were taking by giving federal officials data that could be shared with deportation officials.
A ‘Concerning’ Development
All states must legally provide emergency Medicaid services to non-U.S. citizens, including to those who are lawfully present but have not yet met a five-year wait to apply for Medicaid.
Seven states, along with the District of Columbia, allow immigrants who are not living legally in the country to enroll—with full benefits—in their state’s Medicaid program. The states launched these programs during the Biden administration and said they would not bill the federal government to cover those immigrants’ health care costs. The Trump administration has raised doubts about that pledge.
Nixon said that the state’s Medicaid programs for immigrants “opened the floodgates for illegal immigrants to exploit Medicaid—and forced hard-working Americans to foot the bill.”
All of the states—California, New York, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Minnesota and Colorado—have Democratic governors. As a result of his state’s budget woes, Newsom announced earlier this year that he would freeze enrollment in the program. Illinois will shut down its program for roughly 30,000 non-U.S. citizens in July.
The remaining states have not yet submitted the identifiable data to CMS as part of the review, according to a public health official who has reviewed CMS’ requests to the states.
What People Are Saying
U.S. Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon told AP that the data sharing was legal: “With respect to the recent data sharing between CMS and DHS, HHS acted entirely within its legal authority—and in full compliance with all applicable laws—to ensure that Medicaid benefits are reserved for individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, in a statement sent to Newsweek: “Sharing Medicaid beneficiary information with the Department of Homeland Security—which is itself legally dubious—will jeopardize the safety, health, and security of those who will undoubtedly be targeted by this abuse, and Americans more broadly.
“Federal law requires emergency care to be provided to all to save lives, and the federal government helps pay for it for low-income individuals, regardless of immigration status. Every state should be concerned about this data sharing and its implications for the safety and health of its communities. We will continue to vigorously defend Californians’ privacy rights and explore all avenues to protect their information and safety.”
What Happens Next
Republicans in Congress are continuing to look to limit undocumented immigrants from accessing federal programs while continuing to scrutinize whether sanctuary jurisdictions allow them to receive benefits.
This article contains reporting by The Associated Press.
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