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Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services Obsolete Medicaid Eligibility Handbook For the current MEH, see http://www.emhandbooks.wi.gov/meh-ebd/ For the current BC Plus Handbook, see http://www.emhandbooks.wi.gov/bcplus/ |
A person being added to a case is subject to the new verification requirement at the time of his/her application. Inform the applicant of the documentation requirement and give him/her the “reasonable opportunity period” to comply. Do not grant eligibility for the individual until he/she has submitted valid documentation. If documentation is not received timely, deny MA for that individual only. Do not require other non-exempt household members to submit citizenship or identification documentation until their next review.
Qualified providers who conduct MA presumptive eligibility determinations must not apply the new citizenship and identification documentation requirement to persons seeking presumptive eligibility. Persons determined presumptively eligible for MA are not subject to the documentation requirement until they file a formal application with the local Income Maintenance agency.
IM workers should not delay an individual household member’s eligibility when awaiting another household members’ citizenship or identity verification. The individual pending for citizenship/identity should be counted as part of the group when determining eligibility for other group members. See Process Help Chapter 68.2 for processing instructions.
The Child Citizenship Act (CCA) of 2000 amended the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) to provide derivative citizenship to certain foreign-born children of US citizens. The children included in the act are:
Adopted children,
Biological or legitimated children, or
Certain children born out of wedlock to a mother who naturalizes.
Generally, the CCA provides that foreign-born children younger than 18 years old who meet three conditions automatically acquire US citizenship, and are not required to apply for a certificate of naturalization or citizenship to prove US citizenship. These conditions are that the child:
Has at least 1 parent who is a US citizen (whether by birth or naturalization);
Has entered the US as a legal immigrant; and,
Lives in the legal and physical custody of the US citizen/parent in the US.
Within the context of the citizenship verification requirement this means that for any applicant or recipient that is in the population described above, IM workers should not request documentation for that person. In these cases, IM workers need to acquire documentation proving the citizenship and identity of at least one US citizen parent. The parent’s US citizenship is the basis for the child receiving derivative citizenship.
Since the CCA has been in effect since February 27, 2001 the direction above applies to anyone who was under 18 years old as of that date.
For persons who meet the citizenship verification requirement through the means allowed in the CCA, this is considered primary level evidence therefore the individual has verified both citizenship and identity. The code <CA> should be used in both the MA Citizenship and MA Identity Verification fields.
As a reminder, do not request or require citizenship and identity documentation from indivduals who have not declared that they are citizens. Non-citizens who apply for IM programs are not subject to this policy. Legal non-citizens are subject to the verification process through SAVE and undocumented non-citizens do not have any status that can be verified. Undocumented non-citizens can apply for Emergency MA or BC Prenatal Program and should not be subject to the citizenship verification policy.
When an individual who had legal non-citizen status subsequently gains US Citizenship, this is recorded in SAVE. Therefore SAVE can be used to verify these individuals' citizenship. The verification result from SAVE will be used to verify these individuals' citizenship. The verification result from SAVE will be "individual is a US Citizen". Please consult Operations Memo 04-10 for instructions on using SAVE. Use the <SV> code in the MA Citizenship verification field when using SAVE for this population. These individuals do still need proof of identity since the SAVE verification is considered to be Level 2 citizenship documentation.
This page last updated in Release Number: 07-07
Release Date: 08/30/07
Effective Date: 08/30/07