A federal judge temporarily barred immigration authorities from using data shared by the Department of Health and Human Services(HHS) on immigrant users of the U.S. public health care system from 20 states, following a lawsuit filed.
U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California Vince Chhabria issued the restriction in response to a lawsuit filed by Democratic states against HHS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The plaintiffs had asked the court to issue a block to stop HHS from sharing data from the government-funded Medicaid health care assistance program and to ensure that those already shared are not used for immigration enforcement purposes.
The lawsuit argues that the mass transfer of this data to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) violates public health law and infringes on Medicaid privacy.
The rule passed by Congress in 1965 states that personal data collected on program participants is confidential and will only be shared in certain specified circumstances in the interest of public health.
Judge Chhabria found in his ruling that the Executive failed to take appropriate steps to modify policies on the sharing of personal health information.
In addition, this resolution implies that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will not be able to share Medicaid data with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for immigration purposes in the future.
“The use of CMS data for immigration enforcement threatens to significantly disrupt the operation of Medicaid, a program Congress has deemed crucial to providing health coverage to the nation’s most vulnerable residents,” Chhabria wrote in Tuesday’s ruling.
The public Medicaid program provides health insurance for low-income and underserved populations, such as children, pregnant women, people with disabilities, and the elderly.
By January 2025, a total of 78.4 million people were enrolled in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) nationwide.
Medicaid in California (called Medi-Cal) provides health coverage to one in three Californians, including more than two million foreign nationals.
The latter include green card holders, refugees, people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) beneficiaries, among others.
Not all immigrants are eligible for federally funded Medicaid services, so California uses state funds to provide all eligible residents, regardless of immigration status.
The states of Arizona, California Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington are part of the lawsuit, according to EFE.
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