By Jim McLean and Dave Ranney
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, Feb. 12
Kansas Health Policy Authority
officials and state legislators will be in Washington, D.C. this week to talk to the Kansas congressional delegation about problems caused by the new federal rule requiring Medicaid applicants to prove their citizenship.
Marcia Nielsen, health policy authority executive director, will lead the delegation, which is scheduled to meet Wednesday with all six Kansas members of Congress, or members of their staffs.
“These federal guidelines have restricted the accessibility of health care to thousands of Kansans, which unfortunately, defeats the purpose of federally funded medical benefits,” Nielsen said, referring to the citizenship rule that has kept approximately 20,000 children and pregnant women from qualifying for Medicaid. “During our upcoming meetings, we want to encourage our Congressional delegation to review this legislation to mitigate its impact on eligible citizens and state administrative operations and discuss policy alternatives.”
Many of those initially denied eligibility because they couldn”t produce documents proving their children were U.S. citizens will eventually be enrolled, health policy authority officials have said. But the process of helping applicants collect the necessary documentation is straining the system set up to handle Medicaid enrollment.
“We still have applications we received in October that have not been processed,” said Carla Deckert, deputy project manager at the Kansas Family Medical Clearinghouse, a Topeka-based facility that processes about 85 percent of Medicaid applications for the health policy authority. The clearinghouse is run by Maximus, a private contractor.
Kansas isn”t the only state struggling to comply with the new citizenship rule, which was imposed by Congress to ensure illegal immigrants aren”t receiving Medicaid services.
A recent report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a national policy organization that studies issues affecting the poor, said that Iowa, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Virginia and Wisconsin also were having problems.
“They”re all reporting substantial declines in Medicaid enrollment,” said Donna Cohen Ross, director of outreach research at CBPP. “The new documentation requirement has created a significant barrier to health coverage for low-income children.”
When asked in January at the start of the new Congress about the problems Kansas was having with the new rule, 1st District Congressman Jerry Moran said he supported the intent behind the citizenship requirement.
“I”m happy to listen to the arguments about why what we”re doing isn”t working,” Moran said. “But I support the concept of people having to demonstrate that they are eligible. I do think that services in the U.S. can be an inducement for people to come here.”
In addition to meeting with the Kansas congressional delegation, health policy authority officials will attend a national health policy meeting while in Washington, D.C.
Jim McLean and Dave Ranney are staff writers for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. They can be reached at 785-233-5443.