Calling the move “legally dubious” and an “abuse,” Gov. Gavin Newsom today heavily criticized the Trump administration after reports surfaced that personal medical information — including immigration status — is being shared with deportation officials.
The governor’s comments come as protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids are being held in parts of downtown Los Angeles for the eighth day in a row.
According to the Associated Press, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to give the Department of Homeland Security immigration and other medical data for millions of non-citizens. The data transfer includes information about California enrollees and other states that allow immigrants without legal status to enroll in health services, according to the AP.
The order overturns longstanding federal policy that prohibits the agency that oversees the nation’s publicly operated health programs from sharing private enrollee data with other federal agencies.
During the first Trump administration, many groups that assist people with Medi-Cal enrollment reported high levels of mistrust of government programs and declining enrollment because of the fear that it could be used to refuse citizenship applications or initiate deportation proceedings.
“Sharing Medicaid beneficiary information with the Department of Homeland Security – which is itself legally dubious – will jeopardize the safety, health, and security of those who will undoubtedly be targeted by this abuse, and Americans more broadly,” Newsom said in a statement.
In a letter sent to states last month, Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said he was putting states “on notice” that he would no longer allow “federal dollars to be diverted” for immigrant health care.
“Medicaid is not, and cannot be, a backdoor pathway to subsidize open borders,” Oz said in a news release accompanying the letter.
Trump administration officials, including Oz, have previously claimed without evidence that states like California are illegally using federal money to pay for immigrant health care.
Newsom’s office confirmed that the state’s Medicaid agency, the Department of Health Care Services, responded earlier this year to a federal data request to show that the state was not improperly using federal funds, which cannot be used to pay for health services for immigrants without legal status.
Six other states and the District of Columbia allow immigrants to enroll in some state-funded health programs, but none are as expansive as California’s. All states are required to provide emergency Medicaid to immigrants.
California currently uses more than $8.5 billion in annual state revenue to provide coverage to about 1.6 million immigrants through Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid.
Across the state, organizations representing doctors, community clinics, other health providers and patients condemned the sharing of personal data with immigration enforcement.
Dr. Shannon Udovic-Constant, president of the California Medical Association, called the Trump administration’s actions “reckless.”
“We strongly support access to health care for all and are deeply disturbed to learn that the federal government is no longer protecting patient privacy and is misusing Medicaid data in ways that will make people less safe and less likely to seek medically necessary health care,” Udovic-Constant said in a statement.
The National Health Law Program, a legal nonprofit, said federal law protects the confidentiality of personally identifying and health information. In sharing the data with immigration enforcement, the Trump administration is “running roughshod over bedrock legal protections,” the statement said.
“Medicaid exists to ensure access to lifesaving health care,” said Kim Lewis, the law program’s director of California policy. “People who need health care should be able to get it without fear of ICE raids.”
State Sen. Jesse Arreguín, a Democrat from Oakland, said the implications of federal officials sharing medical information with law enforcement go far beyond immigration enforcement — they could impact people’s medical privacy rights for transgender care and abortion services.
Arreguín is pushing a measure to safeguard patients at health facilities after the Trump administration rescinded a Biden-era policy that limited ICE activity in schools, churches and hospitals. The measure would require health facilities to bar immigration enforcement from entering non-public areas without a warrant and require them to train personnel how to respond.
“Healthcare is a human right, and anyone should be able to seek access without worrying that their privacy will be violated,” he said.
Newsom’s office did not say whether it planned to sue to block the use of Medicaid data for immigration enforcement. But spokesperson Elana Ross said in a statement that the administration would “explore all avenues to protect Californians’ information and safety.”
California officials, including the Department of Health Care Services, have long reassured immigrants without legal status that their data would not be shared with federal agencies for immigration enforcement.
The state health care services department refused to answer questions about sending information to the federal government, instead directing CalMatters to Newsom’s statement.
Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.