ICE allowed access to Medicaid recipients' personal data: report

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be allowed to access the personal data of Medicaid recipients, according to a report.

An agreement signed Monday between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Homeland Security, which was obtained by The Associated Press, showed that ICE officials will be given access to the personal data of 79 million Medicaid enrollees, including home addresses and ethnicities, to track down illegal immigrants.

ICE officials will not be allowed to download the data, but they will be permitted to access it from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, until Sept. 9.

According to the agreement, which has not been announced publicly, “ICE will use the CMS data to allow ICE to receive identity and location information on aliens identified by ICE.”

The Medicaid database that ICE will have access to contains the names, addresses, birth dates, ethnic and racial information, and Social Security numbers for everyone enrolled in Medicaid.

“They are trying to turn us into immigration agents,” a CMS official told the AP on the condition of anonymity.

While illegal immigrants aren't allowed to enroll in the Medicaid program that provides nearly-free coverage for health services, they can use emergency Medicaid, a temporary coverage that only pays for lifesaving services in emergency rooms to anyone, including non-U.S. citizens.

Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon wouldn't respond to the AP's request for comment regarding the agreement. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the news wire in a statement that the two agencies “are exploring an initiative to ensure that illegal aliens are not receiving Medicaid benefits that are meant for law-abiding Americans.”

Last month, Trump administration officials reportedly gave DHS information on millions of Medicaid recipients, including the immigration status of some of the enrollees. The information was about recipients who lived in California, New York, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Minnesota, and Colorado, which allow non-U.S. citizens to participate in the program by using state funds to pay for medical expenses instead of federal.

CMS officials tried to stop the data sharing with DHS, which 20 states have sued over, alleging it violated federal health privacy laws.

HHS lawyer Lena Amanti Yueh told CMS officials on Tuesday that the Justice Department was “comfortable with CMS proceeding with providing DHS access,” despite the officials' concerns about the ongoing litigation, according to an email chain obtained by the AP.