Administration Eases Medicaid Citizenship Documentation Requirement

On July 6, 2006, the Bush Administration announced that it would exempt most seniors and many individuals with disabilities from the new Medicaid citizenship documentation requirement. Because individuals entitled to or enrolled in Medicare or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) already have their citizenship established as part of their Medicare or SSI eligibility determinations, they will no longer be required to present citizenship documentation a second time for Medicaid eligibility. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates that the exemption applies to approximately 8 million of 55 million Medicaid recipients.

 The new documentation requirement, which went into effect on July 1, 2006, was part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA). The new law requires individuals to provide specific types of citizenship documentation when they apply for Medicaid eligibility determination or re-determination. The exemption of certain vulnerable populations from the documentation requirement has been received favorably by advocates and state officials. However, concerns still exist that the requirement will present a barrier to enrollment for many other Medicaid recipients and may result in an overall reduction in Medicaid coverage. The interim final federal regulations on the citizenship documentation requirement are available for review and public comment on http://www.cms.hhs.gov/quarterlyproviderupdates/downloads/cms2257ifc.pdf.