As of July 1, 2006, Medicaid applicants and recipients are now required to show U.S. citizenship documentation. The original documents must be shown in-person by the applicant or an authorized representative to an employee at the Welfare Office for verification (front office staff counts). Copies are not considered acceptable anymore.
Applicants who are already enrolled in Medicare or SSI are not required to prove citizenship.
The guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services uses a hierarchical approach. This means if an applicant presents one of the documents from the primary documentation list no other documentation is required.
Primary Documentation
- A U.S. Passport
- A Certificate of Naturalization
- A Certificate of U.S. Citizenship
Secondary Documentation
If no primary documentation is available, applicants must provide two documents, one to verify citizenship, and a second to verify identity.
Acceptable forms of citizenship verification
- U.S. Birth Certificate
- Certification of Birth Abroad
- Baptismal Certificate (showing date and place of birth)
- U.S. Citizen I.D. Card
- Adoption decree showing name and U.S. birthplace
- Official Military Record of Service
- American Indian Card with Classification Code “KIC”
- Northern Mariana I.D. Card
Acceptable forms of identity verification
- Current Driver's license with photo
- Government issued I.D. card with photo
- School I.D. card with photo
- U.S. military card or draft record
- U.S. military dependent's I.D. card
- Tribal Enrollment Card
If under 16, the following can be used for identity verification
- School record showing date and place of birth and parent's name
- Clinic, doctor or hospital record showing date of birth
- Licensed daycare or nursery school record showing date and place of birth.