July 2 (UPI) -- California and 19 other states have filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the Department of Health and Human Services permitting the Department of Homeland Security "unfettered access" to individual Medicaid health data, raising fears it could be used as part of President Donald Trump's mass deportation plans.
According to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the states are asking the court to declare HHS' transfer of Medicaid data to DHS, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was unauthorized and enjoin its use for the purposes of immigration enforcement. They are also seeking to prevent any further sharing of Medicaid data.
"The Trump administration has upended longstanding privacy protections with its decision to illegally share sensitive, personal health data with ICE," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. "In doing so, it has created a culture of fear that will lead to fewer people seeking vital emergency medical care."
The lawsuit states that on June 13, the plaintiff states learned that HHS had transferred to DHS en mass Medicaid files from California, Illinois and Washington.
The states said the data transferred was personally identifiable, not anonymized and included Medicaid beneficiaries' immigration status and addresses among other information.
According to the lawsuit, HHS provided neither the states nor the Medicaid beneficiaries with warning or notice of the transfer and the department has not identified the legal authorities under which it shared the personal Medicaid data with DHS.
HHS has said, the lawsuit states, that it gave the information to DHS "to ensure that Medicaid benefits are reserved for individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them" but Congress has permitted coverage and federal fund for emergency Medicaid to all residents of the United States, including those without immigration status.
Among the consequences of the sharing of this information is that it could lead to noncitizens disenrolling or refusing to enroll in emergency Medicaid, which they are eligible for, thereby denying them healthcare they may need.
"The Trump administration's use of Washingtonians' private health information for its own political agenda is outrageous," Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said in a statement.
"This is a violation of trust for everyone whose data was inappropriately shared, but especially our immigrant communities and mixed-status families, who are already being targeted by the Trump administration.