• Issue Briefs and Other Resources

• Citizenship Documentation Requirement for U.S. Citizen Medicaid Recipients
  (Deficit Reduction Act of 2005)

• Immigrants' Rights Update Articles

Issue Briefs and Other Resources

table: Federal Policy Guidance Regarding Inquiries into Citizenship, Immigration Status, and Social Security Numbers in State Benefit Application Forms: Summary of Requirements (PDF) (3/23/04)

Summary of NILC's Comments to INS's Proposed Regulation Governing Verification of Eligibility for Public Benefits (10/1/98) (posted under "E-mail Benefits Updates")

Citizenship Documentation Requirement for
U.S. Citizen Medicaid Recipients (Deficit Reduction Act of 2005)

Final Regulations  Medicaid Program: Citizenship Documentation Requirements (PDF), issued by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 72 FR 38662-97 (July 13, 2007).

Reports on citizenship documentation requirements' impact:

• GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIV.  Assessing the Effects of Medicaid Documentation Requirements on Health Centers and Their Patients: Results of a "Second Wave" Survey (GWU School of Public Health & Health Services, Dept. of Health Policy, Oct. 21, 2008).

• gao report  Medicaid: States Reported That Citizenship Documentation Requirement Resulted in Enrollment Declines for Eligible Citizens and Posed Administrative Burdens (Govt. Accountability Office, GAO-07-889, June 2007).

• committee staff report  Medicaid Citizenship Documentation Requirements Deny Coverage to Citizens and Cost Taxpayers Millions (Majority Staff, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, July 24, 2007).

Statutory changes suggested by the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) and the National Association of State Medical Directors (NASMD) "to provide states with the flexibility that they need to ensure that Medicaid services are provided to eligible individuals through cost-efficient methods": "Medicaid Citizenship Documentation" (PDF) (4/07)

CMS press release: "All Low-Income Newborns to Receive Equal Access to Medicaid" (PDF) (3/20/07; posted 4/5/07)

Access to Medicaid for Newborns of Immigrant Mothers (HTML | PDF) (posted 11/8/06)

• California-specific version of above issue brief ("Access to Medicaid for Newborns of Immigrant Mothers") (PDF)

NILC comments on CMS interim final rule re: "Medicaid Program: Citizenship Documentation Requirements" (PDF) (8/11/06; posted 8/21/06)

CMS Attacks Rights of U.S. Citizen Newborns (PDF), issue brief and alert prepared by Maternal and Child Health Access and NILC.  (Posted 8/8/06)
From the brief:  "[I]n the Preamble [to the interim regulations], CMS attempts to deny automatic eligibility [for Medicaid] to U.S. citizen newborns whose mothers were receiving Medicaid only for emergency labor and delivery services. . . ."

Class action lawsuit filed on 6/28/06 challenging the validity of the new federal law, passed as part of the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act, that requires about 50 million Medicaid recipients to prove they are U.S. citizens by presenting passports, birth certificates, or other special documents -- or lose their coverage.  (Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, 6/28/06)

Immigrants Are Not Affected by the New Medicaid Law: New Federal Medicaid Document Requirement for U.S. Citizens Does Not Change the Rules for Noncitizens  (PDF) (6/22/06)

• Immigrants Are Not Affected by the New Medi-Cal Law (California-specific information) (6/22/06)

Fact sheets published by the Health Consumer Alliance (California-specific information)

• The New Medi-Cal Law and Immigrants (6/06)

• New Medi-Cal Proof of Citizenship Requirements (6/06)

Fact sheets authored by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR)

• New Medicaid Documentation Requirement for U.S. Citizens (PDF) (6/06)

• Nuevo requisito de documentación para los ciudadanos de Estados Unidos que desean recibir Medicaid  (PDF) (6/06)

Policy Update authored by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC): 
New Citizenship Documentation Requirement for Medicaid Has No Effect on Immigrants' Eligibility  (PDF) (6/12/06)

Immigrants' Rights Update Articles (back to IRU index)

Punitive Colorado Law Has Cost $2 Million and Saved the State $0 (2/20/07)

U.S. Citizen Infants of Immigrant Mothers Remain Eligible for Medicaid, Despite Reports to the Contrary (12/6/06)

Friendly House, et al. v. Janet Napolitano, et al. | 9th Circuit dismisses challenge to Arizona's Prop. 200 and vacates district court ruling denying injunction (10/5/05)

Friendly House, et al. v. Janet Napolitano, et al. | Arizona Allowed to Implement Prop. 200's Verification and Reporting Requirements as Litigation Continues (2/10/05)

Friendly House, et al. v. Janet Napolitano, et al. | Court Temporarily Halts Arizona Initiative's Reporting Requirements for Benefit Applicants (12/22/04)

CMS Still Has Not Finalized Process for Health Care Provider Reimbursement under "Section 1011" (9/21/04) (posted under "Health Care")

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Details Proposed Process for Distributing Emergency Services Reimbursement Funds (8/9/04)

INS Supports World Trade Center Recovery Efforts by Pledging Not to Seek or Use Immigration Information Provided to Local Authorities (10/8/01) (posted under "Immigration Law & Policy – Arrest and Detention")

Interim Final SCHIP Regulations Issued: Two New Provisions May Jeopardize Immigrants' Access (8/31/01) (posted under "Health Care")

HHS Clarifies SSN Not Required for CCDF Child Care (11/28/00)

Federal Agencies Issue Guidance Clarifying Proper Use of Immigration Status and Social Security Number Inquiries on Benefit Application Forms (10/19/00)

• TABLE – Federal Policy Guidance Regarding Inquiries into Citizenship, Immigration Status, and Social Security Numbers in State Benefit Application Forms – Summary of Requirements (3/23/04) (PDF)

New Rule Explains Limits of INS Reporting Requirements under the 1996 Welfare Law (10/19/00)

City of New York, et al. v. United States, et al.  |  Second Circuit Rejects Challenge to Provisions Barring States from Prohibiting Communication with INS; Justice Dept. Affirms Census Confidentiality (6/30/99)

More Detail on Proposed INS Verification Regs and HHS "Federal Public Benefits" Notice (10/26/98)

HHS Issues Public Benefits List & INS Proposes Rule on Verifying Public Benefits Eligibility (8/7/98)