Because nothing says “health care” like sharing your address with ICE
In a twist that no one saw coming (well, maybe everyone), a federal judge put the brakes on the US Department of Health, which, in its infinite wisdom, decided that data on 79 million people on Medicaid was the perfect gift for deportation agents. Directions? Social Security Numbers? Here, ICE guys, here’s everything on a silver platter!
The art of sharing (without asking)
It turns out that HHS, in its desire to be the “best friend” of DHS, began passing around confidential information as if they were vacation photos on Facebook. It was first piloted in a few states, but when The Associated Press uncovered the cake, 20 states said, “Hey, no thanks,” and filed a lawsuit. What did the government do? Signed a new agreement to give daily access to the data. Because, of course, if something goes wrong, why not do it on a national scale?
“Using CMS data for immigration enforcement threatens to significantly disrupt the operation of Medicaid, a program that Congress has deemed critical to providing health coverage to the nation’s most vulnerable residents” — Vince Chhabria, federal judge and accidental privacy hero.
Judge Chhabria, appointed by Obama (yes, that detail is relevant), not only put a temporary stop to this data fest, but also asked for something revolutionary: a “reasoned” explanation. What a radical concept! Imagine? Make decisions based on more than political whim.
The context: because Trump couldn’t stay out of the drama
This gem of involuntary sharing is part of the Trump administration’s grand plan to turn every corner of the government into an immigration spy center. Already in May, another judge had to remind them that the IRS is not Tinder for ICE to find deportation “matches.” But who needs coherence when you can have institutional chaos?
The court order protects, for now, Medicaid enrollees in those 20 rogue states (like California and New York), but it leaves one question in the air: What’s next? Are they going to sell the data to advertisers? Or perhaps an NFT from your medical history? With this administration, nothing would be a surprise.
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