President Donald Trump’s administration this week offered deportation officers with personal data – including immigration status – for millions of Medicaid participants, a step that makes it easier to localize people within the framework of peopleHis comprehensive approach to immigration.
An internal memo and e -mails received by the Associated Press show that Medicaid officers have unsuccessfully tried to block data transmission, citing legal and ethical concerns.
Still two top consultants of the health secretaryRobert F. Kennedy Jr.Ordered the data record that was handed over to the Department of Homeland Security show the e -mails. Officials from the centers for Medicare and Medicaid services received only 54 minutes on Tuesday to adhere to the directive.
The data record contains the information of people who live in California, Illinois, Washington State and Washington, DC. Everyone is non-citizens to register for Medicaid programs that pay their expenses with only state taxpayers for dollars. CMS transmits the information when the Trump administration increased its enforcement efforts in South California.
The government helps the authorities to localize migrants, not only that the government is looking for the hopes of migrants who are looking for green cards, a permanent residence residence or citizenship, if they have ever received the hope of migrants if they had ever received the Medicaid services financed by the Federal Government.
California Gov.Gavin NewsomaThe office said in an explanation that it was concerned about itImmigration attacksWith the help of troops and marines of the National Guard in Los Angeles.
“We deeply appreciate the privacy of all Californians,” says the explanation. “This potential data transmission was made aware of the AP, and if it is correct, potentially illegal, in particular in view of numerous headlines, emphasizing the potential faulty use of personal information and federal actions in the federal government in order to aim at the personal data of the Americans.”
Some California legislators also expressed the alarm on Friday. US representative Laura Friedman, a democrat, continued to write X That we should never use a person’s need to go to the doctor against them. This will only lead to more chaos and pain in our communities. “
Andrew Nixon, spokesman for the US Health and Human Services, said the data exchange was legal. He refused to answer questions about why the data was shared to DHS and how they would be used.
“With regard to the latest data exchange between CMS and DHS, HHS acted completely within its legal authority -and fully with all applicable laws -to ensure that Medicaid services are reserved for people who are legitimate to receive them,” said Nixon.
An official at DHS, deputy secretary Tricia McLaughlin, said in a statement that Trump “promised to protect Medicaid for beneficiaries. To keep this promise after Joe Biden had flooded our country with ten million illegal aliens CM to make an initiative to ensure that illegal extraterrestrial benefits are given no legal use that receive.”
The initiative seems to be part of a more comprehensive effort of the Trump government to provide more data on migrants. In May, for example,a federal judgerefused to block themInternal Revenue ServiceFrom the exchange of control data from immigrants with immigration and customs authorities to help agents
A targeted review of millions of immigrants -Medicaid participants
At the end of the last month, CMS announced that the Medicaid participants of a state had been checked to ensure that federal funds were not used to pay cover for people with “unsatisfactory immigration status”. In a letter to state medical officers, CMS said that the efforts were part of the Executive Ordinance of Trump on February 19, entitled to “termination of taxpayer subsidies”.
As part of the review, California, Washington and Illinois have informed details of non-US citizens who have enrolled for their state’s medicaid program, as received by a memo signed by Medicaid Deputy Director Sara Vitolo on June 6. The memo was written by several CMS officials under Vitolos supervision, according to the sources familiar with the process.
The data includes addresses, names, social security numbers and damage requirements for participants in these countries, such as the memo and two people who have sent the states to CMS and what was shared with DHS. Both people talked about the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share details about data exchange.
CMS civil servants tried to combat the data exchange request from the home protection indicator and said that according to Vitolos Memo, this would violate federal laws, including the Social Insurance Act and the Data Protection Act of 1974.
“Several statutory federal and regulatory authorities do not allow the CMS to share this information with companies outside the CMS,” Vitolo wrote and further explained that the exchange of such personal data is only permitted for the direct admission of the MedicAID program.
The exchange of information about medicaid applicants or participants with DHS civil servants would violate a “long-standing guideline”, Vitolo, a career employee, wrote to Trump, Kim Brandt, deputy administrator and Chief Operating Officer from CMS.
Vitolo and Brandt could not be reached for a comment.
The legal arguments described in the memo were not convincing at HHS, which the Medicaid agency monitors.
Four days after sending the memos on June 10, HHS officer instructed the transfer of “The data to DHS to today at 5:30 ET”.
Former government officials said that the move was unusual because CMS, which has access to personal health data for almost half of the country, generally has no such sensitive information with other departments.
“DHS doesn’t matter in anything with Medicaid,” said Jeffrey Grant, former career employee at CMS.
Over and beyond Her legal arguments, Vitolo said that you could exchange information with DHS that affect states and could possibly cause you to retain information. States, she added to protect themselves against the “legal risk” that they had met by giving federal officials data that could be shared with deportation officers.
A “concerned” development
All states must legally offer medical medical services for non-US citizens, including those who are legally present but have not yet fulfilled a five-year waiting time for Medicaid.
Seven states together with the district enable immigrants who legally live legally in the country – with full advantages – in the Medicaid program of their state. The states started these programs during the bidges and said they would not invoice the federal government in order to cover the health costs of these immigrants.
The Trump government has raised doubts about this promise.
Nixon, the HHS spokesman, said that the Medicaid programs of the state for immigrants “opened the locks for illegal immigrants to use Medicaid -and the hard -working Americans forced the legislative template on foot”.
All states – California, New York, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Minnesota and Colorado – have democratic governors. Due to the budget problems of his state, Newsoma announced at the beginning of this year that he would freeze the enrollment into the program. Illinois will also complete his program for around 30,000 non-US citizens in July.
The remaining states – New York, Oregon, Minnesota and Colorado – have not yet submitted the identifiable data to CMS as part of the review, according to a civil servant of the public health system that has checked the inquiries from CMS to the states.
Illinois’ health officers also said that they were “deeply concerned” that the knowledge of the AP, in which the Medicaid customer information of their state was shared with federal authorities outside the CMS, in view of the fact that the fact that the data is protected according to the Federal Privacy Act, and other federal regulations – the rights of the sensitive health and personnel data from Americans. “.
In a statement published after the publication of the history of AP, the California Newsoma said that the decision to share the data “will endanger the security, health and security of those who are undoubtedly targeted by this abuse”.
State health officers from the district and Washington did not respond to inquiries about comments.
This story was originally on Fortune.com
