The following information was shared by the Executive Office of Aging & Independence:
MassHealth has been made aware of a report that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials will be given access to the personal data of the nation’s 79 million Medicaid enrollees, including home addresses and ethnicities. The vast majority of these individuals are U.S. citizens and individuals with lawful immigration status. MassHealth has not received any direct communication from the Trump administration regarding their plans.
MassHealth have developed talking points for front line staff who work directly with MassHealth members about how their information may be shared. Please see that information below: For members and those working with members:
- MassHealth is aware of the report that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials will be given access to data on Medicaid members, including home addresses and ethnicities.
- MassHealth only uses immigration and citizenship information as needed to confirm members’ eligibility and comply with state and federal rules.
- MassHealth is federally required to share member information with the federal government.
- MassHealth cannot guarantee that the federal government has not shared members’ personal information with immigration enforcement authorities or will keep members’ personal information from immigration enforcement authorities moving forward. We object to this sharing and strongly maintain that it violates federal law.
- Massachusetts has joined a lawsuit over the federal government’s sharing of Medicaid data with ICE.
- If you work with individuals who have questions about immigration, please recommend they speak to an immigration expert.
- For a list of immigration services in the community, visit Immigrant Health Toolkit – Health Care For All.
If asked: What if I disenroll to protect myself or my family? Can you delete my information?
- MassHealth is required to share historical information on members with the federal government.
- MassHealth cannot remove historical information in our system.
- If you choose to disenroll from MassHealth, the federal government will still have access to the historical information in our system. However, you would not be required to update your information with MassHealth moving forward.
What data is being shared with ICE?
- Based on the reported agreement, the following data fields may be included: Name, address, assigned Medicaid identification number, social security number, date of birth, sex, phone number, locality, ethnicity, and race.
