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New Children's Health Legislation Would Not Allow Any Undocumented Immigrants to Enroll in SCHIP or Medicaid |
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From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: President Bush has said he will veto the second bipartisan compromise bill passed by Congress (H.R. 3963) to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The second bill contains significant changes that close the door on the possibility that undocumented immigrants could be found eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP. It would require clear proof that all children, parents, and pregnant women applying for Medicaid and SCHIP who declare that they are U.S. citizens are indeed citizens: either the state would check the applicant's Social Security record to see that it contains a Social Security Administration-verified indicator of U.S. citizenship, or the applicant would have to provide the state with a document such as a birth certificate. To ignore this fact and incorrectly claim that undocumented immigrants would receive coverage under the bill is not valid justification for vetoing the extension of health coverage to nearly 4 million uninsured children. Legal immigrants applying for Medicaid have always had to submit documents proving that they meet the federal eligibility requirements that apply to legal immigrants. States have reported that the new rule has kept thousands of children who are U.S. citizens from receiving the coverage for which they would otherwise qualify, because their parents lacked ready access to a birth certificate or passport. Supporters of the citizenship documentation requirement claim that it is intended to keep undocumented immigrants from fraudulently enrolling in Medicaid. The first children's health bill (H.R. 976) would have permitted states to allow Medicaid and SCHIP applicants and beneficiaries to meet the documentation requirement by having the state match their name and Social Security number (SSN) with information in the Social Security Administration (SSA) database.
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