Comment on ICE shared Medicaid data it wasn't supposed to have with Palantir
irotsoma@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 days agoDepends on the state. Some check immigration status and some don’t. And situations like for children they don’t require as much information since there’s not a work requirement and they don’t have driver’s licenses or other identification requirements that might also require legal status to get. It’s better for a community to have as many people as possible, especially underprivileged children, having healthcare so that diseases don’t spread as quickly in a community.
deliriousdreams@fedia.io 2 days ago
Yeah. No. There's still the requirement to provide a SSN and other identifying information in order to get Medicaid. Specifically documents that confirm residency and citizenship
But even if what you say is true (and that still doesn't mean they are legally eligible for Medicaid), that still doesn't explain why ICE would need that information. Because specifically, because there's a whole apparatus (used to be before toddler in chief got reelected) who's whole purpose was to audit this system. This is why Medicaid can come after your assets if you use it when you have other means.
So why is ICE, an agency who's purpose is not to investigate citizens, gaining any access to a database of people who are citizens. This is as much a "Need to Know" thing as it is a "make it make sense" thing.
It's like gaining access to the fingerprints of service members for the purposes of making sure they're citizens. The federal government already investigated and continues to investigate their status as legally residing in the country and that data base is for identifying service members who have died so their remains can be returned.
irotsoma@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
Oh I totally agree that ICE should not be allowed to get the information no matter what. Just saying there are several ways to get medicaid without having an SSN and sometimes even being in the country “illegally” and this is why they want the info. They don’t care about those special situations like an emergency or cancer or being an abuse victim or other exceptions, they want any means to find anyone they can deport even if it’s extremely cruel to do so. So yeah, for anyone they deported from those lists it was especially cruel to do so and nothing can justify giving them the info in the first place, but especially knowing the extreme situations the people that would be on those lists would have endured, it was beyond unconscionable.