WASHINGTON, July 3 (UPI) -- On the heels of a federal lawsuit filed to stop new Medicaid proof-of-citizenship rules, another suit has been filed against the District of Columbia.
Eleven district residents and low-income advocacy group Bread for the City are suing to stop the District from applying new requirements prompted by the federal government they say could mistakenly terminate Medicaid benefits for thousands of U.S. citizens in the district who cannot produce specific forms of paperwork to prove their birth in the country starting July 1.
Previously, applicants for Medicaid who were citizens were required only to indicate on a form they were citizens, under penalty of perjury. Questionable applications were then subject to later investigation.
Under the new rules, all who apply for benefits as citizens will be required to produce original documents verifying their citizenship.
Opponents of the measure claim that the requirement will not identify many illegal recipients, but will impose an additional burden on those who are rightfully entitled to assistance. State governments have also complained that the new requirements will impose enormous additional costs.
In the District of Columbia lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue the requirements will be especially burdensome for the city's many elderly African-Americans born outside of hospitals due to poverty and discrimination for whom birth certificates may never have been issued.
The lawsuit specifically calls for an injunction to stop the district from applying the new requirements that will arbitrarily terminate Medicaid benefits. It also calls for the development of a process that guards against fraud and abuse but still protects the access of citizens resident in the district to Medicaid benefits when they need it.
