Letter: Many ways to prove Medicaid eligibility

Friday, June 16, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.

The Sun's June 11 story about the new federal law requiring Medicaid recipients to prove they are U.S. citizens, "Indigent may lose Medicaid benefits," was incomplete and misleading.

The article stated that people applying for Medicaid "must show their birth certificates or U.S. passports" to be eligible. In fact, numerous other documents are acceptable to establish a person's citizenship and identity. Among them: driver's licenses, military records, life and health insurance records, hospital records, doctor records, federal and state census records, and Certificates of Indian Blood and other tribal documents.

For children under age 16, acceptable documents include school ID cards, military dependent ID cards and medical records showing date of birth.

In rare cases in which an individual can't produce any of these records, affidavits from them and an unrelated person with knowledge of their citizenship are also acceptable.

The story also quotes critics questioning how people who live in nursing homes or are mentally or physically incapacitated will be able to gather the needed documents. Many such people have legal guardians, social workers or family members who can help them.

In addition, the federal government encourages states to provide specific assistance to those who have trouble assembling the necessary documents. Federal rules also say that anyone now receiving Medicaid who makes a continuous good-faith effort to obtain his or her documents cannot be denied benefits.

Congress passed this new law to ensure that Medicaid dollars go to U.S. citizens and legal residents. But the law contains multiple safeguards to ensure that no one who is eligible is unable to obtain Medicaid benefits.

Jeff Flick, San Francisco

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