Hawaii Says Trump’s Medicaid Policy Is Harmful. They Can’t Prove It.

WASHINGTON—One of the main blue-state plaintiffs suing the Trump administration for sharing Medicaid beneficiary data with the Department of Homeland Security cannot produce evidence showing that the policy causes harm, filings first shared with The Daily Wire show.

Hawaii joined California and 18 other states in the suit, which contends that sharing Medicaid data with Homeland Security puts beneficiaries in harm’s way and at risk for deportation.

America First Legal submitted records demands for documents showing any data leaks or improper disclosures, instances of Medicaid information reaching immigration authorities, increased hospital costs or uncompensated care, drops in enrollment or reluctance from noncitizens, any administrative burden, any deaths or adverse patient outcomes, and interference with the state’s ability to administer Medicaid.

Filings viewed by The Daily Wire show that Hawaii could not produce any documents on these topics, and the state’s reasoning was that it does not have the records for these requests. America First Legal maintains that this shows that the state has no evidence to back up its claim that the Trump policy causes harm.

“The State of Hawaii produced a declaration stating, ‘As far as Med-QUEST is aware, CMS has not disclosed Medicaid PII data for Hawai‘i Medicaid enrollees to date,’” said America First Legal Vice President Dan Epstein, adding: “Case closed.”

Hawaii’s Medicaid program, Med-QUEST, is administered by the state’s Department of Human Services. Court filings show that Med-QUEST already shares protected health information with the federal government every month.

“Med-QUEST provides health coverage to 400,000 low-income Hawaii residents,” the court filings state. “In addition, Hawaii administers federally funded emergency Medicaid benefits that provide emergency care and services to individuals regardless of their immigration status.”

“Med-QUEST routinely shares protected health information concerning Hawaii residents and their use of Medicaid healthcare services with CMS. Med-QUEST sends data to T-MSIS on a regular basis, and also responds to occasional CMS requests for additional information concerning Medicaid claims and the use of federal dollars.”

Yet Hawaii claimed in court that the Trump policy sharing Medicaid data with DHS would harm the state. America First Legal is arguing that since Hawaii can’t produce the records it requested, Hawaii appears to lack “a concrete and particularized injury from the Trump Administration’s action,” and should not be able to proceed.

The legal group had similar victories over California and Washington in these states’ cases against the Trump administration: California and Washington had sued over Trump’s executive order on “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” as well as his order on “Protecting The Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.”

“Without actual harm, Hawaii lacks standing to sue,” Epstein said in a statement on Tuesday. “The American people deserve better than having the federal courts clogged with political theater that obstructs the policies of a popularly elected President.”