To comply with a new federal law, California will soon require all Medi-Cal enrollees to show proof of citizenship. People will have to furnish original passports, driver's licenses, or birth certificates to qualify for the program. KPBS Reporter Kenny Goldberg has the story.
People on Medicare or disability are exempt from the new requirements. The state has used its computer system to confirm the citizenship of half of the remaining Medi-Cal recipients. But that leaves more than one-point-seven million people that still need to prove their status.That's not a good thing, says Elizabeth Landsberg with the Western Center on Law and Poverty.
Landsberg: Anytime we put another barrier in people's way of more documentation they have to come up with, it means that some people who would be eligible for the program are going to lose that coverage that they need so much.
A study of six states that have already implemented the new rule was released earlier this month. It reveals enrollments in Medicaid programs have fallen while administrative costs have gone up. Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
