LINE Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The LINE Act creates a Medicaid privacy rule aimed at immigration enforcement. Notwithstanding the Privacy Act, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Health and Human Services may not disclose individually identifiable health information obtained in connection with a person's enrollment in a state Medicaid plan or waiver to any person, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, for the purpose of enforcing immigration laws. The bill uses the HIPAA-style definition of individually identifiable health information in Social Security Act section 1171(6) and applies to information connected to title XIX Medicaid enrollment. The practical effect is to separate Medicaid enrollment health data from immigration-enforcement requests, protecting enrollees' privacy and limiting interagency disclosure.
Who Benefits and How
Medicaid enrollees benefit because health information tied to enrollment cannot be disclosed for immigration-law enforcement. Immigrant families enrolled in Medicaid benefit from reduced fear that health coverage information will be shared with ICE. State Medicaid agencies benefit from clearer federal limits on immigration-enforcement disclosure requests. Health privacy advocates benefit from a statutory wall around Medicaid individually identifiable health information.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data offices must refuse immigration-enforcement disclosures of covered Medicaid health information. Department of Health and Human Services privacy staff must apply the ban notwithstanding the Privacy Act. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators lose access to Medicaid enrollment health information for immigration enforcement. Federal immigration enforcement attorneys must pursue other data sources instead of covered Medicaid health information.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits CMS and HHS from disclosing Medicaid individually identifiable health information for immigration enforcement.
- Applies the ban notwithstanding the Privacy Act.
- Bars disclosures to any person, expressly including ICE.
- Protects information obtained through enrollment in a state Medicaid plan or waiver.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Bars CMS and HHS from disclosing Medicaid individually identifiable health information to any person, including ICE, for immigration-law enforcement purposes.
Key Policy Areas
Medicaid, Privacy, Immigration
Primary Purpose
Bars CMS and HHS from disclosing Medicaid individually identifiable health information to any person, including ICE, for immigration-law enforcement purposes.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Medicaid enrollees
- Immigrant families enrolled in Medicaid
- State Medicaid agencies
- Health privacy advocates
Identified Costs
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data offices
- Department of Health and Human Services privacy staff
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators
- Federal immigration enforcement attorneys
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Kamlager-Dove (for herself, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, …
Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition …
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data offices
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology