By LYNNE TERRY/The Lund Report

The federal government has launched a new campaign against immigrants by demanding that states answer monthly questions about low-income people on publicly funded health insurance.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced last week it would send states monthly enrollment reports with names of people enrolled in Medicaid whose immigration or citizenship status could not be confirmed through federal databases. The names will include adults on Medicaid and children on the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, that serves minors in low-income families.

CMS officials said in a release they expect states to verify residency status of every person on the list, asking for additional documentation, if necessary.

State officials will be expected to take anyone who does not meet federal citizenship or residency requirements off Medicaid, the release said.

“We expect states to take quick action and will monitor progress on a monthly basis,” the release said.

A spokesperson for Oregon Health Authority, which oversees the federal health care programs, told The Lund Report that state officials will not provide the Trump administration with personal information about Oregon Health Plan members.

Spokesperson Amy Bacher said the federal government is required to protect and limit the use of Medicaid data and that Oregon would do the same.

“OHA is committed to following state and federal laws designed to protect the privacy and dignity of all Oregonians,” Bacher said in an email.

In Oregon, 1.4 million people, including nearly 500,000 children, receive the free physical, mental health and dental benefits offered by Medicaid.

Earlier request and lawsuit

The request is part of a new data-sharing agreement between federal health and immigration authorities that the Trump administration is using in its crackdown on immigrants.

In response, Oregon joined 19 other states in July in a lawsuit against sharing personal Medicaid data with federal authorities, arguing that it would violate federal privacy protections.

The federal judge in the northern California case has temporarily sided with the states by issuing a temporary injunction against the data sharing for immigrant enforcement. He said CMS has a longstanding policy of only using patients’ personal information to manage its health care programs and that the injunction would stand until there’s a “reasoned decision-making process” to reverse the policy or the lawsuit ends.

He said the injunction applies across the board, including to data that immigration authorities have acquired from Medicaid services about Medicaid enrollees in Oregon and 19 other states: California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

State officials respond

On July 30, Oregon responded to the first request for extensive data on Medicaid enrollees. State officials provided narratives describing how Oregon uses federal dollars to provide the Medicaid benefits but did not share personal information.

“This submission did not include personally identifiable information,” Bacher said. “OHA continues to stand with immigrant communities and all 1.4 million Oregonians who rely on Medicaid and who are worried about their personal information at this time. Our mission is to ensure access to care, and we oppose all efforts to thwart it.”

The Trump administration has made it clear it intends to use personal information provided by state health officials in its campaign against immigrants.

Trump officials initially said they would only target people without legal status who’ve committed crimes, but the crackdown has been much more widespread. Federal agents have detained tourists, farmworkers and others doing essential jobs or going to school, including people raising families.

By law, Oregon is a sanctuary state, which means police and other state officials are prohibited from helping federal immigration authorities unless they have a court order. Oregon also offers qualifying low-income immigrants without legal residency status the same free health, mental and dental care provided by Medicaid, but paid for with state funds, not federal. There are currently nearly 107,000 people in the program, called Healthier Oregon.

Federal law prohibits all immigrants without legal status from being on Medicaid. Some immigrants who meet certain residency and other qualifications qualify. And for 30 years, successive administrations have allowed immigrants without legal status to access care through safety net clinics, so-called federally qualified health centers.

But this summer the Trump administration reversed that policy, announcing that people who lack documentation will be banned from receiving physical, mental and dental care from these clinics. They also would be prevented from accessing federally backed mental health and addiction programs, early childhood education programs like Head Start and nutritional support.