Pirate's Cove

Why would any illegal be afraid when NPR and other Democrats tell us that illegal aliens are not getting Medicaid?

Medicaid can share data with ICE. Here’s how that 180-degree change spreads fear

For decades, people applying for Medicaid were told their personal information — including their names, addresses and immigration status — would not be used for immigration enforcement.

But a December court ruling changed that. And that change has sent ripples of fear through families and communities.

“My daughter’s life depends on Medicaid,” says P., who asked that NPR identify her by her first initial only.

P. and her family have legal immigration status, but she fears that the health insurance keeping her medically fragile daughter alive could also put her family at risk of being detained or deported by immigration authorities.

What’s the legal status? Might have been important to know. Also, would have been Journalism 101. Is it a legal status which would allow Medicaid? Or one which wouldn’t? If she has in-between maybe status like being a (fake) asylum seeker, well, the government should know where she is, right?

For decades Medicaid promised eligible immigrants they wouldn’t share information with immigration authorities. It was even explicitly written on government websites. Those commitments are no longer on the Medicaid website.

The promise was meant to assure eligible immigrants “to feel comfortable that they can access their care without fear of putting their immigration status into jeopardy,” says Cindy Mann, who oversaw Medicaid during the Obama administration and now works at the legal and consulting firm Manatt Health.

Mann calls the change, which the Trump administration began quietly last year, a “180-degree reversal of longstanding policy.”

Policy, not law. And the objective is to catch illegals who are not eligible.

Twenty-two states have sued to stop federal health agencies from sharing Medicaid data with the Department of Homeland Security, including Arizona, Michigan and New Jersey. At the moment, following the December ruling in federal court in San Francisco, Medicaid can share names, addresses and other identifying information for people who are in the country unlawfully with immigration officials. In the remaining 28 states including Texas, Kentucky and Utah, there are no limits on what Medicaid data can be shared with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other entities.

Really, ICE and other officials aren’t concerned with those who are eligible, but, those who aren’t. And want to create fear in the states who give Medicaid to the illegals who aren’t eligible. Fear with the government employees who are approving illegals to get Medicaid. Fear with the illegals who want to apply because the liberal states give them Medicaid but could now lead to Los Federales catching them.