Medicaid Documentation Requirement Disproportionately Harms Non-Hispanics, New State Data Show: Rule Mostly Hurts U.S. Citizen Children, Not Undocumented Immigrants

Publication Date: July 2007

Publisher: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Donna Cohen Ross

Research Area: Health

Keywords: Economic projections; Health insurance; Citizenship; Ethnicity

Type: Report

Abstract:

Newly available data from three states show that white and African American children are much more likely than Hispanic children to have their Medicaid coverage delayed, denied, or terminated as a result of a citizenship documentation requirement that took effect last year. These data provide further evidence that the requirement, purportedly aimed at preventing undocumented immigrants from improperly obtaining Medicaid, is instead overwhelmingly affecting U.S. citizens who are eligible for the program. (Under the requirement, low-income individuals who state they are U.S. citizens must produce a passport or birth certificate, naturalization document, or similar documentation to prove they are U.S. citizens when they apply for Medicaid or renew their Medicaid coverage.)