Medicaid: Deficit Reduction Act
In February 2006, President Bush signed into law budget reconciliation legislation—the so-called Deficit Reduction Act (DRA)—that fundamentally altered many aspects of the Medicaid program. Some of these changes are mandatory provisions that states must enact and that will make it more difficult for people to either qualify for or enroll in Medicaid.
See DRA Implementation in the States for information on the optional provisions that allow states to make unprecedented changes to the Medicaid program through state plan amendments.
See Citizenship Documentation for information on this requirement and its consequences.
Issue Briefs
Mountain Health Choices: An Unhealthy Choice for West Virginians (August 2008)
The Medicaid Citizenship Documentation Requirement One Year Later (September 2007)
Best Practices: How States Can Reduce the Burden of the Citizenship Documentation Requirement (May 2007)
Health Opportunity Accounts: What Are They, and Why Should State Advocates Care? (March 2007)
New Medicaid Regulations Discriminate against U.S.-Born Children of Immigrants (August 2006)
Analysis of the Medicaid Citizenship Documentation Regulations (July 2006)
The Burden of Proof: New Regulations Worsen Citizenship Documentation Requirement in Medicaid
(July 2006)
Citizenship Update: Administration Creates Additional Barriers for Medicaid Enrollment (June 2006)
Cost-Sharing and Premiums: Shifting Costs to Those Who Can Afford it Least (May 2006)
Medicaid Benefit Package Changes: Coming to a State Near You? (March 2006)
Millions Must Now Prove Citizenship to Keep Medicaid Coverage (February 2006)
Overview: Medicaid and the Deficit Reduction Act 101 (February 2006)
Additional Information
Press Release: Federal Court Likely to Enjoin Rule Requiring 500,000 Foster Children in Medicaid to Document Citizenship (September 19, 2006) Update on the Medicaid Citizenship Lawsuit
Comments from 20 National Organizations on CMS’s Interim Final Rule on the New Medicaid Citizenship Documentation Requirement (August 11, 2006)
Comments from 80 State and Local Organizations on CMS's Interim Final Rule on the New Medicaid Citizenship Documentation Requirement (August 11, 2006)
Press Statement: Court Expedites Litigation Schedule on Medicaid Citizenship Documentation Law (July 7, 2006)
CMS Fact Sheet: HHS Issues Final Regulations with Comment on Citizenship Guidelines for Medicaid Eligibility (July 6, 2006)
Interim Final Regulations on the Citizenship Documentation Requirement (July 6, 2006)
Text of Medicaid Citizen Documentation Court Case (June 28, 2006)
CMS Fact Sheet: HHS Issues Citizenship Guidelines for Medicaid Eligibility (June 9, 2006)
CMS Guidance on Citizenship Documentation (June 9, 2006)
Obtaining Documentation of Citizenship Status and Identity for Medicaid Enrollment Under the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act (DRA)
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