Oregon has joined 19 other states in suing the Trump administration to prevent immigration authorities from having any more access to the personal information of Medicaid recipients.
Their lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, argues that the transfer of personal data violates federal law. They’re asking the court to block any new transfer of data or use of the data for immigration enforcement.
“Attorney General Rayfield joined this lawsuit because protecting the health, safety and dignity of everyone who lives here is a core value of our state,” a spokeswoman, Jenny Hansson, said in an email. “Trust is essential in any health care system — and that trust breaks down when people fear that seeking medical care could put their families at risk of deportation.
In mid-June, The Lund Report revealed that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had asked Oregon for the personal information of enrollees in the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s Medicaid program, as part of its crackdown on immigrants.
CMS gave Oregon until July 30 to comply. The state has yet to respond.
Oregon decided to sue “to ensure that data remains protected,” Hansson said.
Also in June, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services turned over the personal data of enrollees in California, Illinois and Washington, as well as in Washington, D.C., to the Department of Homeland Security, which is overseeing deportations, the Associated Press reported. The lawsuit said that transfer was illegal.
“Millions of individuals’ health information was transferred without their consent, and in violation of federal law,” the lawsuit said. “In doing so, the Trump administration silently destroyed longstanding guardrails that protected the public’s sensitive health data and restricted its use only for purposes that Congress has authorized.”
The Trump administration said it is trying to verify whether everyone on Medicaid qualifies. It is illegal to use federal funds to pay for Medicaid to undocumented immigrants, but Congress has approved paying for emergency medical care for everyone in the country, regardless of immigration status.
Oregon, California, Washington and Illinois are among the states that use state dollars to provide free health benefits to low-income undocumented immigrants.
The lawsuit cast doubt that federal officials plan to use the data to verify Medicaid eligibility, saying they the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, “has been amassing federal benefit data, such as Social Security recipient information, and individuals’ tax information, to build a searchable database of Americans’ information for several purposes, including to assist ICE in immigration enforcement actions.”
The Trump administration is trying to deport as many immigrants as possible. It initially said it would deport undocumented immigrants with criminal records but news reports say it is deporting those without any charges against them and even legal residents.
Oregon is a sanctuary state, which means that it limits state cooperation with federal immigration authorities in tracking and deporting people. As of 2022, it was home to about 120,000 people who lacked documentation, according to the Pew Research Center.
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement Tuesday that its data requests and transfer were legal “and in full compliance with all applicable laws” to ensure benefits were going to those who qualify.
“CMS is aggressively cracking down on states that may be misusing federal Medicaid funds to subsidize care for illegal immigrants,” spokesman Andrew Nixon said. This oversight effort — supported by lawful interagency data sharing with DHS — is focused on identifying waste, fraud and systemic abuse. We are not only protecting taxpayer dollars – we are restoring credibility to one of America’s most vital programs.”
The lawsuit said this assertion of fraud is unjustified and that states already verify eligibility.
Medicaid coverage expanded by Oregon
Immigrants with legal residency who meet certain qualifications can qualify for Medicaid under federal law, but it is illegal to use federal funds for people who lack documentation. It’s unclear how many immigrants with documentation qualify for benefits in Oregon, where 1.4 million residents are on Medicaid.
More than 100,000 people are on a state Medicaid plan, Healthier Oregon, that offers the same free health care, dental and mental health benefits to people who've immigrated but may lack documentation. It is intended to only be funded with state dollars.
The Trump administration’s data request included people’s names, addresses, Social Security numbers, immigration status and claims data.
Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in an announcement Tuesday that the release of personal information could have a dire impact.
“This has a chilling impact on people who need health care in our country,” Rayfield said. “Parents may choose not to take their kids to the doctor because they’re afraid of what may happen. We need to protect the privacy and dignity of every person who calls Oregon home.”
The announcement said that in the seven decades since Congress created the Medicaid program in 1965, it has been well-established that the personal information collected from recipients is confidential and can only be shared in narrow circumstances that would benefit the public and the integrity of the program.
State-federal relationship
The Medicaid program allows each state to develop and administer its own health plan, and Oregon has won many “waivers” that have allowed it to offer extra benefits, like housing, cooling and food assistance. It has also tried to make it easier for recipients to stay enrolled, something that might be undone if a budget bill just approved by the U.S. Senate is approved by the House.
States routinely share some personal data with the federal government to administer Medicaid, including to verify that the state is eligible for federal funding. The federal government pays for about three-quarters of the benefits. Historically, Health and Human Services has prevented the use of this data for immigration enforcement, Rayfield’s release said.
The lawsuit argues that the Trump administration’s data requests could create fear and confusion, leading to noncitizens disenrolling in Medicaid despite their eligibility. The release said that would mean that hospitals would have to pay for federally mandated emergency care.
“These individuals may not get the emergency health services they need and will suffer negative health consequences — and even death — as a result,” the release said.
The lawsuit requests that the data transferred to immigration authorities or DOGE be destroyed. It also asks for an order saying the data transfer was “unauthorized and contrary to” U.S. law and a permanent ban of the transfer of personal data from Health and Human Services to another federal agency and using it for population surveillance or immigration enforcement.
In addition to Rayfield, the lawsuit was signed by the attorneys general of California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Washington.