Colorado and 19 other states sued the federal government Tuesday to prevent Medicaid data from being used for immigration enforcement.
In June, the Department of Health and Human Services transferred data about people enrolled in Medicaid to the Department of Homeland Security, which includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The shared data included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, immigration status and information about medical claims made by residents of California, Illinois, Washington state and the District of Columbia.
Colorado, New York, Minnesota and Oregon received requests for similar data. At the time the sharing became public, Colorado wouldn’t say if whether it would comply.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced in May that it was investigating whether states used any federal matching funds to cover undocumented people. The agency could cut off funding for undocumented people and recoup any that states had already spent without involving ICE.
Marc Williams, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, said CMS gave the state until July 30 to send the data. The department is still clarifying some parts of the request, he said.
The multistate lawsuit, filed in the he U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, argues that federal law only allows states and the federal government to share Medicaid enrollees’ personal data if necessary to run the program or to identify fraud.
The administration’s actions suggest it is trying to build a database to facilitate deportations, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said.
“There’s no reason to share this sensitive data with immigration or law enforcement agencies. We’re suing to protect Colorado’s Medicaid program and the health and welfare of the people it serves,” he said in a statement.
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said the data sharing was necessary to find waste, fraud and “systemic abuse” of Medicaid.
“We are not only protecting taxpayer dollars — we are restoring credibility to one of America’s most vital programs. The American people deserve accountability. HHS is delivering it,” he said in a statement.
Colorado uses state money to cover undocumented children and those who are pregnant or in the postpartum year. About 21,000 people were enrolled in that program as of late June. The state also allows a limited number of undocumented people to buy subsidized health insurance on the marketplace through its OmniSalud program.
All states must cover undocumented people under “emergency Medicaid,” which pays for labor and delivery costs, dialysis for people with end-stage kidney disease and care for illnesses and accidents that could cause someone to die or lose a limb.
The other states involved in the lawsuit include Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
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