Colorado joins 19 other states to stop transfer of Medicaid data to federal health and immigration agencies

Colorado is joining a multistate coalition in a lawsuit to block the mass transfer of individual personal data to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Attorney General Phil Weiser and his counterparts in 19 states are suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to a press release issued by his office.

The attorneys general said the mass transfer of the data violates the law and asked the court to block any new transfer or use of this data for immigration enforcement purposes. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

“The personal health care data collected about Medicaid beneficiaries is confidential, to be shared only in narrow circumstances that benefit public health and the integrity of the Medicaid program,” said Weiser, a Democrat. “There’s no reason to share this sensitive data with immigration or law enforcement agencies. We’re suing to protect Colorado’s Medicaid program and the health and welfare of the people it serves.”

In early June, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, orCMS, the federal agency that administers the nation’s health program for low-income Americans, made a “lengthy and detailed” data request to Colorado’s agency that administers Medicaid, according to Marc Williams,  public information officer with the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. The request was made to seven other states, he said, without providing details on which ones.

The Associated Press reported CMS has shared personal information of Medicaid from people living in California, Illinois, Washington state and Washington D.C., with the Department of Homeland Security, the agency in charge of immigration enforcement and the administration’s deportation push.

In response, advocacy groups in Colorado raised a variety of privacy, safety and health concerns.

An HHS spokesperson told CPR last month the request was within the agency's authority. 

“HHS and CMS take the integrity of the Medicaid program and the protection of American taxpayer dollars extremely seriously,” said U.S. Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon, in an email. “With respect to the recent data sharing between CMS and 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.”

“Colorado’s immigrant communities should never have to fear that accessing life-saving care could lead to detention or deportation,” said Nicole Cervera Loy, Policy and Campaign Manager at the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, in an email to CPR. “This unprecedented request for sensitive health data is not about program integrity—it’s about surveillance and punishment. We call on state leaders to reject this directive and uphold Colorado’s values of dignity, safety, and care for all.”

The coalition highlighted in the suit that “the Trump administration’s illegal actions are creating fear and confusion that will lead noncitizens and their family members to disenroll, or refuse to enroll, in emergency Medicaid for which they are otherwise eligible, leaving states and their safety net hospitals to foot the bill for federally mandated emergency healthcare services,” according a press release from the Attorney General’s Office. 

Colorado joined the following states in the legal challenge: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.