CMS issues exemptions in law
I received this today from ADAPT. Whew…I’m a bit relieved!
Exemptions Issued to Proof-of-Citizenship Law
July 7, 2006
CMS on Thursday announced that it will exempt people enrolled in the
Supplemental Security Income or Medicare programs and other groups from
regulations that took effect July 1 requiring Medicaid beneficiaries and
applicants to provide proof of citizenship in order to receive benefits, the
Washington Post reports (Levine, Washington Post, 7/7). Under the law,
individuals seeking care through Medicaid must show proof of U.S.
citizenship, such as a birth certificate, passport or other form of
identification.
The law’s intent is to prevent undocumented immigrants from claiming to be
citizens in order to receive benefits provided only to legal residents
(California Healthline, 6/29).
CMS Administrator Mark McClellan said that people receiving Medicare or SSI
benefits would be exempt under the agency’s new regulation because they
already had to establish their citizenship when they enrolled in those
programs. He estimated that about eight million of 55 million Medicaid
beneficiaries would fall into those categories.
McClellan also said states could establish proof of citizenship by
referencing records of state agencies that administer food stamps, child
support and child protective services, as well as agencies that issue
driver’s licenses (Pear, New York Times, 7/7).
In addition, individuals who make a “good faith effort” to prove their
citizenship will not face loss of coverage. In rare cases, sworn affidavits
from the beneficiary and at least one other person could be used when no
documentation of citizenship can be found.
The regulations will become final later this summer (Alonso-Zaldivar, Los
Angles Times, 7/7).
‘Scrivener’s Error’
The New York Times notes that in an “unusual preamble to the new rule,” CMS
states that it believes Congress intended to exempt people in Medicare or
SSI from the proof-of-citizenship rule. The original law states that the
requirement “shall not apply to an alien who is eligible for medical
assistance” if the person also is enrolled in one of the other programs.
According to the CMS preamble, this language is “clearly a drafting error”
in which Congress intended to use the word “citizen” but “actually used the
term ‘alien.’”
CMS said it was correcting “a scrivener’s error” with the new regulations
(New York Times, 7/7).
A hearing will be held Friday in federal court in Chicago for a lawsuit in
which advocacy groups are seeking to stop implementation of the new law on
grounds that it is unconstitutional (Washington Post, 7/7).