NYT: Citizens Who Lack Papers Lose Medicaid

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON, March 11 — A new federal rule intended to keep illegal immigrants from receiving Medicaid has instead shut out tens of thousands of United States citizens who have had difficulty complying with requirements to show birth certificates and other documents proving their citizenship, state officials say.

Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia have all reported declines in enrollment and traced them to the new federal requirement, which comes just as state officials around the country are striving to expand coverage through Medicaid and other means.

Under a 2006 federal law, the Deficit Reduction Act, most people who say they are United States citizens and want Medicaid must provide “satisfactory documentary evidence of citizenship,” which could include a passport or the combination of a birth certificate and a driver’s license.

Some state officials say the Bush administration went beyond the law in some ways, for example, by requiring people to submit original documents or copies certified by the issuing agency.

more:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/us/12medicaid.html?hp

[salin]

1. One would think that reports from states

that this law has not "weeded out" illegal aliens, but instead citizens and particularly children, that this law would be revisited and rewritten. Unfortunately one author passed away last month and the other, if I read it correctly said that this was just a 'bumpy start' to the program. Hopefully this news item will catch the appropriate current congressional leaders who may then act to correct this problem.

[UndertheOcean]

2. How hard is it for a U.S. Citizen to get a birth certificate if he doesn't have one?

n/t

[maddezmom]

3. I suppose it depends on the individual person situation

:shrug:

Here's a thread from 4/2006, as you can see it's a very hot topic.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2220393#2226470

[noamnety]

4. It can be a huge hassle

I have one copy of my daughter's birth certificate from overseas (military dependent at the time, but not a military hospital). If I'd lost it, and something happened to me, I can guarantee you she has no clue what hospital she was born in. Not even sure how she'd start tracking that down, dealing with the language barrier.

[kestrel91316]

23. You need to make sure there are lots of copies of it floating around

among family members, and a copy on your computer and hers, and backup disc copies, etc etc etc. And then send off for a brand new certified original copy or two. Talk to the US embassy in whatever country it was for help. Do it now, rather than LATER.

And make sure she or you have her passport in a safe place, and keep it current at all times.

[Debau2005]

5. Very difficult

If you are an elderly person, either don't know how, or perhaps your records have been lost or misplaced, by your birth county, over the years.

[rebel with a cause]

11. Elderly person, especially those who were

not born in a hospital or had a doctor register their birth, must find 2/3 people who have known them from birth. My mother had to do this back in the day, she died in 1968. My children were born in NYC and I had a type of certificate, but not the official one. Finally after my near death last year, I got the idea that I needed to get the official one. Now mind you, they are both adults, but I understand the need where they don't. I went on the internet and ordered theirs from NYC City Hall. Had to have information and it cost me $25 each, but they now have them.

Now on the other hand, my ex husband is an immigrant. He had his birth certificate when we were married, but his now wife seems to have lost it. He went to register for SS and they told him the same thing that is stated here, he needs his birth certificate certified from the court house that issues it. He is a naturalized citizen, but that certificate is not good enough. Now the question becomes whether he can get the necessary papers from his country and whether they will accept what he gets. Not only does this affect him, but it also affects me because my SS depends on his.

[rodeodance]

6. Generally you have to write to courthouse in the county where you were

born. It takes months. Need to write, not call. Then they have to send it. And it cost $$--some do not have checking accounts.
People move around a lot.

[rodeodance]

7. the new voting law in WI is causing same problem.

[rebel with a cause]

13. Some states have it on the internet where you can order

your birth certificate. You just need the right information and the money to do so.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. It can be pricey

And you have to know the county in which you were born, names of both parents, etc. For some poor people, the $30 and the information might well be hard to come by. Plus they have to know HOW to go about getting the birth certificate. Some states you write for it at the state capitol, others in the county of birth. Only reason I know is I've done genealogical research for decades. And yes, a certified copy costs a lot more than just a copy.

[Roland99]

10. Piece of cake in Kentucky

For about $10 one can get a replacement birth certificate. I've had to do it for myself as well as my daughters.

Just drove to Frankfort and about 15 min. I had it.

[kickysnana]

16. If you don't have a car and/or in a wheelchair...

how do you get there? You have a stroke and cannot write out the ticket and nobody can understand you. I have had to go through some of this with my Aunt who at 71 had never applied for SS, had not had a drivers license for years. Not a piece of cake by any means.

We dealt with a "social worker" at the nursing home who would tell you to look on the internet for everything. I had it most elderly don't. The nursing home didn't. There was only one nursing home in the area who took the truly indigent (not qualified for medicare for any reason) and I was told it was terrible and people languished there because there was nobody to help them get documents to apply for programs to get any help o.

Basically a bed and 3 meals with one Aid for 37 people, one RN for 100 they tend to over-medicate (need I say to death) Even the nursing home she was in kept putting her in low blood sugar crisis daily. The Dr would not lower the insulin dosage even though the endocrinologist she saw at the hospital said that she would need it lowered as she recovered from the stroke. Mpls VA just had a story was required to put eye drops that caused damage until they could get a doctor to stop them and it took 60 days. Took her home with me with the promise of a social worker from the county coming out the following week to get help with extra care. It took 60 days before we got someone and another 30 days for anything to be OKed for home care. I have MS. We relied on technology we bought, power chair. lifts. Most people couldn't do that. If she had had a husband with money they would have been out to be sure he took care of her but because we were beholden we waited. BTW I am the still extra care. She did get a few more week of OT and PT I have to admit.

[Roland99]

18. You can have it mailed to your residence.

[kickysnana]

19. We are back to waiting for it, if they find it...

Did genealogy in the 80's and 90's. One out of four times they couldn't find it and when you wrote back they magically did. Stopped all active genealogy in 1999 because things were going from bad to worse but indexes were online so you could validate without having the actual document.

I didn't find one grandmothers death certificate in a hospital in another county until they put the index online at the Historical Society. Wrote three times. Went in person twice. Once I had the file number they "found" it.

U of MN lost my sisters transcripts from Fargo_Moorehad/Concordia 3 times when she was applying about 1990.

[rebel with a cause]

22. What state are you in?

Because Illinois did much better with me. I could have home care today if I wanted it, but my kids live in the same house with me and don't want someone coming in messing with their stuff. ;-) So they get to clean the house themselves.

[Cobalt Violet]

14. Extremely difficult for some. n/t

[mbperrin]

21. Try this one. Mom was born in Fairfield, KS in 1928.

They move away in 1930, eventually to Texas. Courthouse burns down in 1932, destroying all original records, including birth certificates, etc. Fast forward to 1968, when she decided to get a driver's license in Texas - needed a birth certificate to prove she was at least 16, but her mother could sign for her instead. State of Kansas in 1968 told her that there was no duplicate, no way to verify. So pretty difficult, although she doesn't have to worry about it - died at age 52 in 1984.

[SemperEadem]

25. you can get a state certified copy

you can go on line to your state's vital statistic dept. and find out how to go about having one sent to you. I did about 2 yrs ago and I got mine in the mail so that I could go get a passport, which apparently seems to be the document of choice for employment.

[Der Blaue Engel]

26. I almost couldn't get mine last year when I needed it

It took me four months and over $500 to get a copy, because I had the audacity to change my name after being born.

The State of Montana wouldn't release the certificate because my name was different, so I had to have the name on the certificate changed first. But they wouldn't do that without a court order from the state in which I'd changed my name.

I hadn't gone through the court to change my name because you don't have to in California. So I had to re-change my name, get a court date 3 months out, post an ad in the paper for 6 weeks, and then pay numerous fees. (And I'm lucky they didn't ask me for proof of my original name, because, oh, guess what...that would be on my birth certificate...which I couldn't show them.

When it came time to get the California court to issue the order to change the name on the birth certificate, they refused, saying they had no jurisdiction over the State of Montana and couldn't order them to do anything.

A lady in the Montana Vital Records Dept. finally took pity on me and bent the rules because I burst into tears. I sincerely doubt everyone in her position would do the same.

[roseBudd]

29. Very difficult if you are poor, handicapped, don't drive, elderly, illiterate etc.

[cap]

a lot of rural elderly were born at home

and have no birth certificate

[rebel with a cause]

12. They will have to get 2/3 people who knew them from birth

who will swear that they were born. ;-)

If you do not have a birth certificate they will sometimes not issue you a death certificate. At least that is what they told my mother when she did not have one.

[cap]

9. a lot of rural elderly were born at home

and have no birth certificate

[area51]

15. Where is the protest

from the so-called "pro-lifers" that people are being denied healthcare and are in danger of dying. Oh, that's right, they only care about you until you're born. :eyes:

[Javaman]

17. Pardon me Fraulein, do you have your papers? nt

[noamnety]

20. There's a 2 month wait for some Katrina survivors

"Before Katrina, there was a two- to three-week turnaround on requests. Today it takes about eight weeks, said Darlene W. Smith, state vital records registrar."

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/neworleans/6053061.html

[yardwork]

24. We're living in a vicious, hate-filled society

[Alameda]

27. having a birth certificate

It's not unthinkable that a US born person could have problems getting or having a birth certificate. Many born during the great "influenza epidemic" of 1918/19 don't have them. Hospitals were full, doctors delivered at home. Not a few doctors died before they could file the necessary documents. Now those people are particularly vulnerable.

Babies born at home are also an issue.

[roseBudd]

28. How hard is it to tell when someone speaks if they are originally from the US?

or came here at an extyremely young age?

I realize there are many fine actors who shed their native accent for a role. most of us don't have that talent.

If you sound like a US citizen chances are you are.

[HockeyMom]

30. My Original BC was lost in the 1950s

by the VA. Long Story. My Dad's and my Mom's were also lost. The original is gone, goodbye, adios. The only thing that remains is the entry in the enumeration in the NYC Index of Births for that year (genealogists will know what I mean), not the original filled out by the doctor who delivered me in the hospital. No, no photocopy that exists.

I got my first Passport, fortunately, 30 years ago before the increased security. Even back then, they questioned the BC certificate that I got from the City (yes, raised seal) because it did not contain all the information or look like what the majority of people had. However, after calling the NYC Bureau of Records they took it (researching my whole story) and issued me a Passport.

I had to get another Passport this past January to go to the Bahamas. The agent immediately looked askew at the BC. However, since I did have a 30 year old Passport, he took it, and sent both in. "Let's see if they will take this". They did.

My eternal gratitude to some clerk 30 years ago who issued my original Passport. You saved me a LOT of grief today.

I guess for all future secruity, and benefits, purposes I will have to keep this new Passport in a very safe place.