This week, CT AG William Tong joined a multistate lawsuit challenging a federal decision to potentially give ICE access to individual personal health data.
HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined multiple coalitions of top state lawmakers from across the country this week suing the federal government.
One of the lawsuits claims that the administration of President Donald Trump illegally shared personal health data with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE.
According to a release from Tong, the lawsuit challenges a decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, to give the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, access to individual personal health data information. DHS houses ICE.
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Tong noted that in the seven decades since Congress enacted the Medicaid Act to provide medical help to vulnerable people, federal law and practice have made it clear that the personal healthcare data collected about beneficiaries of the program is confidential.
Traditionally, that information was only to be shared in certain narrow circumstances that are necessary to preserve public health and the integrity of the Medicaid program.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California claims the president took it a step too far.
The attorneys general who submitted it argue that such a mass data transfer violates the law. They’re asking the court to block any new transfer of or use of the data for immigration enforcement.
“Why does Trump need your medical records – your immunization records, your weight, your cancer diagnosis, your prescriptions – advance his out-of-control deportation agenda?” Tong questioned.
Tong pointed out that nearly one million people in Connecticut are covered by Medicaid and that data for other states has already been shared with DHS. Tong is confident that Connecticut’s data has not yet been shared, and he wants to keep it that way.
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Still, questions linger, and Tong hasn’t been hesitant to express them.
“What is ICE doing with all of this information, and who is watching to make sure this incredibly sensitive information is not misused, lost or leaked? Trump is doing this to bully immigrant families away from seeking healthcare, and it’s making all of us less healthy and less safe. We’re suing today to stop this,” Tong said.
In mid-June, states learned through news broadcasts that HHS transferred their Medicaid data files, which contain critical information for millions of people.
Tong speculates that the federal government plans to create a sweeping database for mass deportations and other large-scale immigration enforcement efforts.
The federal government says it gave the data to DHS to ensure Medicaid benefits are reserved for individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them, but Tong notes that Congress extended coverage and federal funds for emergency Medicaid to all individuals residing in the U.S., regardless of immigration status.
In the lawsuit, the coalition claims the Trump Administration’s actions are unconstitutional and creating fear and confusion that will force countless people to disenroll or refuse to enroll in emergency Medicaid for which they are otherwise eligible.
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This could leave states and their safety net hospitals to cover the costs of federally mandated emergency healthcare services. Or, in the worst case, these individuals won’t even get those necessary services and will suffer negative health consequences or even death.
The coalition believes the Trump Administration’s actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act and is contrary to a range of other documents.
The attorneys general are also asking the court to stop HHS from transferring personally identifiable Medicaid data to DHS or any other federal agency and stop DHS from using the data to conduct immigration enforcement.
Joining Tong in filing the lawsuit are the attorneys general from California, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at [email protected].
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