New law requires changes for Medicaid patients
New law requires changes for Medicaid patients
Immigrants must show proof of citizenship
BY DAVID NIVENS
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
GUILFORD COUNTY – Medicaid patients are under notice that they may have to document their citizenship for benefits.
Starting this month, new ap*plicants and many current ben*eficiaries have been required to provide proof of their citizen*ship as part of a new federal law designed to prevent illegal im*migrants from receiving health care coverage. Social workers had been accepting their clients’ citizenship without documentation unless they had suspicions.
Clients will get notices ex*plaining that they may have to show a U.S. passport or an orig*inal birth certificate with a driver's license for service.
The problem comes if clients don’t have a passport or a driver’s license, said DSS Director John Shore. That leaves only the birth certificate for identification.
“We have to provide proof of a birth certificate,” Shore told DSS board members meeting Wednesday in Greensboro. “That means we may have to pay to get a birth certificate if the client does not have one. That’s more work for us.”
In Guilford County, 55,000 people receive Medicaid bene*fits. State officials have estimat*ed that up to 10 percent of North Carolina’s 1.5 million recipi*ents don’t have a birth certifi*c at e.
Medicaid is a federal health plan for low-income families and individuals. North Caroli*na is the only state that re*quires counties to pay a portion of Medicaid costs.
States that don’t upgrade their Medicaid identification rules face federal penalties.
Earlier this month, Mark Benton, senior deputy director for the state Division of Medical Assistance, said he expected few problems with the new re*q u i rem en t s.
The Associated Press con*tributed to this report. dnivens@hpe.com" target=_blanks
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