20 states sue after Trump administration releases private Medicaid data to deportation officials
Washington (AP): The Trump administration violated federal privacy laws when it turned over Medicaid data on millions of enrollees to deportation officials last month, California Attorney General Rob Bonta alleged on Tuesday, saying he and 19 other states' attorneys general have sued over the move.
Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr's advisers ordered the release of a dataset that includes the private health information of people living in California, Illinois, Washington state, and Washington, DC, to the Department of Homeland Security, The Associated Press first reported last month.
All of those states allow non-US citizens to enrol in Medicaid programmes that pay for their expenses using only state taxpayer dollars.
The unusual data sharing of private health information, including addresses, names, social security numbers, immigration status, and claims data for enrollees in those states, was released to deportation officials as they accelerated enforcement efforts across the country. The data could be used to help the Department of Homeland Security locate migrants in its mass deportation campaign, experts said.
Bonta said the Trump administration's data release violates federal health privacy protection laws, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
“This is about flouting seven decades of federal law policy and practice that have made it clear that personal healthcare data is confidential and can only be shared in certain narrow circumstances that benefit the public's health or the Medicaid program,” Bonta said during a news conference on Tuesday.
The Trump administration has sought to arm deportation officials with more data on immigrants. In May, for example, a federal judge refused to block the Internal Revenue Service from sharing immigrants' tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help agents locate and detain people living without legal status in the U.S.
The move to shore up the federal government's data on immigrant Medicaid enrollees appears to have been set in motion in May, when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced it would be reviewing some states rolls to ensure federal funds have not been used to pay for coverage for people with “unsatisfactory immigration status.”
As part of the review, CMS asked California, Washington and Illinois to share details about non-US citizens who have enrolled in their state's Medicaid program, according to a June 6 memo signed by Medicaid Deputy Director Sara Vitolo that was obtained by the AP. The memo was written by several CMS officials under Vitolo's supervision, according to sources familiar with the process.
CMS officials attempted to fight the data sharing request from Homeland Security, saying that to do so would violate federal laws, including the Social Security Act and the Privacy Act of 1974, according to the memo.
The legal arguments outlined in the memo were not persuasive to Trump appointees at HHS, which oversees the Medicaid agency.
Four days after the memo was sent, on June 10, HHS officials directed the transfer of “the data to DHS by 5:30 ET today,” according to email exchanges obtained by AP.
HHS is “aggressively cracking down on states that may be misusing federal Medicaid funds,” agency spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement. The agency has not provided details on DHS' role in the effort. Nixon also defended the legality of releasing the data to DHS.
“HHS acted entirely within its legal authority – and in full compliance with all applicable laws – to ensure that Medicaid benefits are reserved for individuals who are lawfully entitled to receive them,” he said in the statement.
Dozens of Democratic members of Congress — in both the House and Senate — have sent letters to the involved agencies, demanding that data sharing cease and that Homeland Security destroy the information it has received so far.
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Girl gangraped on moving vehicle in Tripura, two arrested
Agartala, Aug 22 (PTI): A girl was gangraped on a moving vehicle by two of her companions near Udaipur railway station in Tripura's Gomati district, police claimed on Friday.
The two accused, identified as Mithun Debnath (24) and Bower Debbarma (24) of Maharani, have been arrested, police added.
"The girl, accompanied by two of her neighbours, went to Tripureswari temple on Thursday evening. After visiting the temple, two boys took her to Udaipur railway station in a car. On the way, Mithun and Bower raped her in the moving vehicle", officer-in-charge of RK Pur women police station, Nibha Sinha, said.
Sinha said the three were initially detained at Kakraban checkgate in Udaipur subdivision when they were returning around 10 pm.
"On being asked, the girl claimed she was raped by two of her companions. We then brought them to RK Pur women police station for interrogation", she said.
Following a complaint from the victim's family on Friday, both youths were arrested for their alleged involvement in the incident.
"A forensic team has checked the vehicle in which the girl was raped. The survivor was produced before a local court to register her statement as part of the investigation", she said.
