Comment by JumpCrisscross
7 hours ago
> are they harvesting citizens' health records illegally as part of this effort, and if so, when do those responsible see jail time?
I’m honestly curious if this would be a Privacy Act or HIPAA violation. The article seems to be unsure on this.
They're unsure because a lot depends on the legal status of children born to non-citizen parents in the US after a executive order tried to revoke birthright citizenship: https://www.bmj.com/content/390/bmj.r1538
If that EO was legal, then sharing the data is, too. If it wasn't, then it's probably a privacy violation, but the CMS isn't allowed to make that call themselves, they have to rely on court decisions for it. And challenging EOs is not trivial.
I’m also unsure, but I haven’t understood HIPAA to constrain governmental actions. It’s a short law so I will review it (not a lawyer all the same).