ID REGULATIONS HURTING AMERICANS SOME CAN'T FIND DOCUMENTS FOR MEDI-CAL.

Byline: TROY ANDERSON

Staff Writer

A new federal law now being implemented in California will require nearly 1 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries in Los Angeles County to submit proof of citizenship and identity to obtain or maintain their benefits, officials said Tuesday.

The benefit reductions, a result of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, were intended to prevent undocumented immigrants from receiving health benefits.

But county officials, who are preparing to implement the program in the next few months, say the law has had the unintended consequence in other states of preventing many U.S. citizens and legal residents who can't locate the required documents from obtaining or continuing to receive health benefits.

Lupe Luque, who oversees the Medi-Cal program for the county Department of Public Social Services, said a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report found very few undocumented immigrants had lied to receive the benefits.

Instead, the biggest problem involves people receiving benefits who are having trouble obtaining the required documents because they were born at home, or in another state, or have a mental illness or are victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"Some people think this is going to affect undocumented immigrants," said Francisco Estrada, director of public policy for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "It really isn't because, for the most part undocumented immigrants, don't get Medi-Cal. The people it's going to affect the most ... are those people, especially the elderly, who for whatever reason have problems documenting their citizenship."

For example, Estrada said he recently spoke with a man who was born at home in Los Angeles in the 1930s and has a delayed birth certificate. Although he served in the U.S. military in the Korean War, he hasn't been able to get a passport, a key document needed to qualify for Medi-Cal.

Still, "requiring legal residents to prove their legality is to ensure that we do not become the HMO to the world," said county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, noting the county spends $400 million annually on health care for undocumented immigrants.

"In Los Angeles County and throughout the nation, illegal immigration has had a devastating impact on the quality of health care in both our private and public hospitals," he said. "There is no free lunch."

Citizenship or legal-immigration status has always been a requirement for the Medi-Cal program, but states previously could accept a person's statement of citizenship. In many cases, a single document, such as a passport, will be enough to establish both citizenship and identity. However, if secondary documentation is used, such as a birth certificate, the individual will also need evidence of identity.

Children in foster care, as well as individuals enrolled in Medicare and those receiving supplemental security income and Social Security disability insurance benefits, are exempt from the requirements.

To help Medi-Cal beneficiaries obtain the required documentation, Luque said the DPSS is setting up a system for recipients to come directly into agency offices, where their documents can be copied, eliminating the need to send important paperwork through the mail with risk of loss.

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

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