SACRAMENTO, CA – Leaders of California’s #Health4All coalition respond to reports that the Trump administration has reached an agreement to hand over the private personal medical data of Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) recipients, including addresses, to ICE. The Associated Press today reported that “Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will be given access to the personal […] The post Statement from the #Health4all Coalition on Trump Administration Agreement to Share Private Medicaid Data with Ice appeared first on Health Access.
SACRAMENTO, CA – Leaders of California’s #Health4All coalition respond to reports that the Trump administration has reached an agreement to hand over the private personal medical data of Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) recipients, including addresses, to ICE. The Associated Press today reported that “Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials will be given access to the personal data of the nation’s 79 million Medicaid enrollees, including home addresses and ethnicities, to track down immigrants who may not be living legally in the United States…[according to an] agreement signed Monday between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Homeland Security.”
“Our worst fears are being realized – the private, sensitive health data of over 15 million Californians will now be used not for delivering health care, but for implementing the Trump administration’s violent deportation regime. This unprecedented breach of medical privacy is an outrageous and deeply alarming assault on the rights and health of millions of Americans. The consequences of this chilling decision will ripple through every community,” said Amanda McAllister-Wallner, Executive Director of Health Access California. “Families who rely on Medicaid will be afraid to seek care, even in emergencies, for fear that doing so could lead to deportation or family separation. This fear and mistrust will lead to worse health outcomes, delayed diagnoses, and more costly care down the line — making our entire system less safe and less effective. The administration’s move is not only inhumane and unlawful, but also a direct threat to public health. This action flies in the face of decades of precedent that upholds the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship and the legal protections afforded under HIPAA and we demand that this dangerous policy be rescinded immediately, and we call on all elected officials and health leaders to condemn and resist this misuse of vital health data.”
“Confirmation that the personal data of 79 million Medicaid enrollees, including their home addresses and ethnicities, will be shared with ICE represents a horrendous and illegal breach of public trust,” said California Immigrant Policy Center Executive Director Masih Fouladi. “People’s sensitive and deeply personal health information should only be used for healing. This is an outrageous violation of the rights of all Americans, including the immigrant population, and should face bipartisan condemnation. For months, we have witnessed ICE violate the due process of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents; now they are further empowered to do so. Using private healthcare information to terrorize and threaten immigrants with family separation and deportation will erode trust in doctors, clinics, and hospitals and lead to avoidable deaths. We expect and demand that the administration be held to account, whether in Congress or in the courts.”
“Health advocates are shocked and outraged by this deeply cruel and blatantly illegal action that threatens health care for millions,” said Kiran Savage-Sangwan, Executive Director of the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network. “The Trump Administration aims to weaponize records of cancer treatment, heart attacks, and children’s broken arms to not only to accelerate its mass deportation agenda, but to further spread fear in communities already terrorized by ICE. We call on the courts to act swiftly to stop this unprecedented and dangerous violation of law.”
“We strongly condemn this administration’s dangerous and unlawful overreach in its pursuit of inhumane immigration deportation. The federal government’s willingness to sacrifice the privacy of all people for shameful separation of families should concern everyone, not just immigrants,” said Dr. Seciah Aquino, Executive Director of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California. “Across the country and in California, undocumented individuals have trusted that access to basic healthcare is a human right and could be attained without persecution. Now, the federal government has betrayed this trust. This continued pattern of targeting immigrants with no criminal history and deep community ties is disgraceful, and benefits no one.”
“We are appalled that the personal data of almost 15 million Californians has been shared with federal deportation officials,” said Linda Nguy, Associate Director of Policy Advocacy of the Western Center on Law and Poverty. “Using confidential Medi-Cal data for immigration enforcement is a hostile act designed to stop Californians from accessing the health care they need. It also undermines the safety of our entire healthcare system, and jeopardizes the lives and health of everyone, especially low-income individuals and families.”
Since 2013, the Health4All Campaign has brought together immigrant rights activists, health care advocates, and community members to call for expanding health care to all Californians, regardless of immigration status. Since then, the campaign has been able to remove unjust barriers to Medi-Cal eligibility and has fought to include over 1 million Californians into the program.
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