Rachel Maddow: Recent Stringent Medicaid Requirements!

[bobbolink]

Maddow is to report on the recent requirement of having original Birth Certificate or Passport in order to receive Medicaid!

I'm convinced this is a sneaky way to cut off more people. I know from experience that other hard-to-get documents are also being required now for benefits.

Are there any lawyers here on D.U. helping clients with these issues?

Please listen to her next show! This issue desparately needs our action!

There will be more deaths from this move, and we need lots of people to write, call and in general, RAISE HOLY HELL!

[annabanana]

1. Of course this is a way to cut off more people.

If they manage to convince enough people that asking for a birth certificate is not "asking too much", than they will hurt the most vulnerable people who need the help desperately.

Those of us born since the middle of the last century, to white middle class families, in extant facilities (Katrina anyone?) and of sound mind and body, would have no problem fulfilling this requirement.

A serious percentage of the rest would not have such an easy time proving their citizenship.

[MissWaverly]

2. I don't know about that

my mother was never "legally adopted" there was no paperwork really, it was really a mess,
well, at least now she rests in peace, but paperwork was always a nightmare.

[Doctor Venmkan]

3. I don't have a clue where my B/C is....

And I don't have a passport. In theory, couldn't those that need Medicaid GET a passport? Or do you have to have a birth certificate to get a passport? Now THAT would be a very underhanded way to cut/deny more people...

Though on the other hand, I AM opposed to illegal immigrants being able to get Medicaid.... :/

Things are changing here in NC. Before you could get only 6 Rxs a month unless your doctor signed an "override" form stating you had a life threatening condition. They were a pain in the "A" to keep up with, but served the purpose pretty well. Except some Doctors and patients would abuse the system. I think one woman got an override for a urinary tract infection....!

NOW, however, as best I understand it:

You get EIGHT Rxs a month. For Rx numbers 9-11 we at the pharmacy can override it. For more than eleven we have to call Medicaid and "lock" you into our pharmacy. And it's literally just ONE pharmacy you'll be able to get meds at, even in national chains. The condition is that the pharmacists have to do "medication therapy management" with the locked patients and all their doctors.

Sounds pretty good...once you're locked, no more override forms every 6 months. And getting a pharmacist to go over all your meds isn't such a bad idea (interactions, ect). I'm a strong proponent of staying at ONE drug chain, if not one store, so that they can do that. But I don't really like the idea that even if the chain has a linked central system so that any pharmacist anywhere in the country can review your Rx history, Medicaid patients can just go to the ONE store. Sometimes it's just better to go to another store, especially if you're seeing a specialist in another town.

Well, time will tell how the new system does.....

[Rainscents]

7. When you apply for passport, they will ask for original B/C

or if weren't born here and US citizen, they'll ask for Citizenship. When I got my pass port 11 years ago, I had to send in my Citizenship paper and adoption paper with it. I got all of them back with passport 4 weeks later. I just got my passport renewed and it was easier since they had all my original information.

[IndyOp]

16. Excuse me, Dr. V - If you were a woman you would know that

a Urinary Tract Infection is a life threatening condition -- threatening to sanity at the very least.

Untreated, what are the complications? I would bet a bladder infection could get to be life threatening - causing hospitalization even. So why not treat the freaking UTI when it is reasonably inexpensive to treat?

How DO 36 other modern nations manage to provide health care for all citizens, have 'immigrant issues' and still not collapse?

IMO - we do not have an 'illegal immigrant problem' - we have a 'corporations hiring illegal immigrant problem.' If the corporations were forced to follow the law the immigrants would go away and you would not have to worry about paying for their health care. I'd still rather pay for their health care than their later hospitalization - and no I am not going to refuse to hospitalize a dying person because they can't pay for it.

:grr:

[Sapphire Blue]

4. 3 to 5 MILLION medicaid recipients at risk. I OBJECT! OBJECT! I OBJECT!

From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities...

MEDICAID ID RULE COULD PUT HEALTH COVERAGE AT
RISK FOR 3 TO 5 MILLION U.S. CITIZENS STARTING JULY 1
State-by-State Data Show Millions To Be Affected

A new rule requiring U.S. citizens to prove their citizenship when applying for or renewing Medicaid benefits is expected to jeopardize coverage for several million qualified citizens, from elderly people in nursing homes to foster children, according to a national survey conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington-based research group.

The rule, which takes effect July 1, requires native-born citizens to produce a passport or birth certificate (except in rare cases) to begin or continue Medicaid coverage. Its main effect “is likely to impede or delay coverage for millions of eligible U.S. citizens,” said Judith Solomon of the Center.

Three to five million Medicaid beneficiaries — including between 1.4 million and 2.7 million children — could see their coverage jeopardized because they do not have a U.S. passport or U.S. birth certificate in their possession, according to data from a nationally representative survey. The survey, conducted between January 12 and 16 by the Opinion Research Corporation, was commissioned by the Center.
(See http://www.cbpp.org/1-26-06health.htm)

State-by-state figures for the total number of citizens who are covered by Medicaid and thus would be required to prove their citizenship are available in a Center report.
(See http://www.cbpp.org/4-20-06health.htm)

The new documentation rule is part of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), enacted in February 2006. Details of the DRA’s implementation became public June 9, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued guidance to state Medicaid agencies explaining the requirement and what individuals and states must do to comply with it.

More @ http://www.cbpp.org/6-30-06health-pr.htm

THE NEW MEDICAID CITIZENSHIP DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENT: A BRIEF OVERVIEW: http://www.cbpp.org/4-20-06health.htm


**********************************************************

The repub ruled Congress passed the Deficit Reduction Act containing this new requirement.

PLEASE...

Call Congress toll-free @ 1-800-459-1887 and register your objection with them!

Demand that this be reversed.

Our members of Congress are supposed to be our representatives, not our executioners!

**********************************************************

[bobbolink]

6. Sapphire Blue Comes Through Again!

Thanks so much for this! This is what I wanted to have.

Am copying this, will print and give to as many as I possibly can.

O.K., DU--time for action on this!

[Sapphire Blue]

12. The CBPP is a good resource!

[Sapphire Blue]

19. Kicking for action!

:kick:

[Sapphire Blue]

10. PLEASE register YOUR objection w/Congress @ 1-800-459-1887 (toll-free)

[Sapphire Blue]

11. !

[Sapphire Blue]

5. K & R!!!

[Rainscents]

8. This is going to create one BIG FUCKING MESS!!!

I hope every one of those fucking republican is effected by this as this is NOT just the democrats issue. They voted for this piece of shit and they can deal with this mess.

[bobbolink]

9. It already has! Legal Aid lawyers are going nutz trying to get

benefits reinstated for people caught in this mess!

Poor people are expected to be air plants, and live on no money for an extended length of time.

It's all crazy, and Dems are silent.

[nonconformist]

13. I'm confused, I thought it was already a requirement

My children have been on Medicaid before, and they required their birth certificates when I signed them up. Perhaps it's a state thing?

In any event, I don't want to see any needy children have their coverage dropped.

[colinmom71]

22. It's situational and yes, dependent upon state specific regulations....

In Georgia, if the mother is a participant in the Medicaid "Right From The Start" pre-natal care program, the baby is automatically granted provisional Medicaid eligibility for the first year of life. This covers well-baby care and vaccinations. Just before the child's first birthday, the parent(s) can opt to re-apply for Medicaid to cover the child for another year under the conventional financial regulations required by GA Medicaid (the RFTS program allows for more relaxed income caps than regular Medicaid coverage). But by this time, the child's citizenship/birth record info is already a matter of state record within the Medicaid system via the RFTS program eligibility.

But if you were applying for a child for Medicaid coverage after it's birth and without the RFTS program participation, you do have to provide proper citizenship and identifying info, like a birth certificate. This has been a requirement in Georgia for well over a decade here now as far as I recall.

I can't answer for any other states since my only experience has been with Georgia Medicaid, though I did hear *numerous* complaints about the Florida Medicaid and Children's Medical Services departments when my son was a patient at a Florida hospital NICU (he was a preemie). Compared to what parents and nurses there complained about, my experience with Georgia Medicaid/Right From The State was even easier and helpful than I thought at the time. And the GA hospital my son was born at made the entire application for Medicaid (conversion from the RFTS program due to his medically fragile status), Social Security number, SSI disability, etc. so incredibly easy for us that we had nothing but glowing compliments to offer for their help!

[bobbolink]

24. Children and adults--different categories

I don't know all states, but it would be reasonable for children's benefits to require a birth certificate, as that's usually the only I.D. for them, and it's fairly easy to acquire, since it's much more recent.

Adults have previously been accepted with a Driver's License or state I.D. Often, adults have a much harder time getting a birth certificate. Some counties haven't done a good job of keeping records, and over time, files are lost, and buildings burn, etc.

It also looks like it's going to be much more difficult to get a Driver's License now. The identification process is getting stringent.

I hope that answers some of your questions.

[auntAgonist]

14. I have been reading and re-reading and I see nothing

addressing the issue of "Permanent Residents"

I am a permanent resident of the USA. Do I have to apply for citizenship in case I might need Medicaid someday? What about all of those people who receive medicaid now, are some of them permanent residents?

aA

[SlipperySlope]

15. What is the logic here?

Is it "if it stops one illegal alien from getting medicare it is worth it"?

That is idiotic. That would be like justifying gun control by saying "if it saves one child it is worth it".

[bobbolink]

25. Logic? Don't need no stinkin' logic....

Naw, this is to catch all them terraists, donchaknow....

:grr:

Edited to add that according to post #20, this *IS* about undocumenteds.

Whaddda country..........:argh:

[Nimrod2005]

17. Let's face it, they want them to die to save money...They hate HATE

Medicaid, and Medicare for that matter, and of course Social Security!!!

I am fed up, totally fed up with these people.

[pansypoo53219]

18. basically they are

shoving this off to the states. making the feds look better.
it's bullshit.

[Oilwellian]

20. My paper did an editorial on this issue

Unless the courts intervene, 50 million poor, disabled and elderly citizens could be denied health care until they prove they are indeed true-blooded, born-in-the-U.S.A. Americans.

The new law, spawned when Georgia Rep. Charlie Norwood indulged his xenophobic tendencies, aims to make sure not one illegal alien takes advantage of the benevolent Medicaid system -- a program that is for bona fide citizens and very select legal immigrants.

Never mind that the Health and Human Service's inspector general has found few abuses. The Republican Norwood hypothesizes that the unresolved illegal immigration crisis could bankrupt the Medicaid system.

He included in the Deficit Reduction Act a requirement that every Medicaid recipient -- from newborn child to severely disabled adult to nursing home resident -- must step forward starting July 1 and prove citizenship. Congress left the details up to Health and Human Services to dictate to the state. Those details are doozies.

People who have a hard time scraping together bus fare must present their passports to their state Medicaid office. Don't have one? Then an original birth certificate together with a government-issued photo identification will suffice. Don't have that, either? Tough luck.

A class-action suit filed Wednesday in Chicago seeks to overturn the requirements. The plaintiffs include an elderly African-American woman who doesn't have a birth certificate because she was born at home (a common occurrence before the 1940s when many Southern hospitals were for whites only), and a stroke victim who can't talk, has no family or paperwork and relies on church members to tend to his affairs.

They and countless Americans like them will be purged from the Medicaid rolls. Norwood's plan to save money comes at the expense of poor and elderly Americans' health. Yet any dollars saved on actual health care will be burned as the states add more employees to review documentation.

The lawsuit might stop this. But so could congressional Republicans if they realized their nativist zeal actually harms the very Americans they seek to protect.

http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/71769

[Sapphire Blue]

21. Call Congress toll-free @ 1-800-459-1887

[bobbolink]

26. Thanks so much for posting this editorial!

This is an issue of mine, and I'm saving articles like this.

I didn't even have to ask you for the link. :hi:

Thanks muchly! I will send this to the lawyer who's working on my claim right now.

[burrowowl]

23. My Grandmother was born at home

Many of the medicare age were born at home. It used to be for these people, 2 people had to swear they knew them as being citizens of the US of A. Many born during the Depression and WWII were born at home because they were still on the farm, etc.
Dr V, if you know where you were born, you can address a request to the capital of the state where you were born and get a birth certificate if your birth was registered.

[bobbolink]

27. The article in post #20 addresses home births, too

If this applies to your grandmother, possible she could join the class-action suit?

Thanks for adding your experience. This is NUTZ!

[bobbolink]

28. A fireworks kick for those who are being cut off Medicaid!

:kick: