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Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel Kennebec Journal Morning Sentinel
MaineCare to require IDs
Rule goes into effect August 1st
By SUSAN M. COVER
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel Saturday, July 21, 2007

AUGUSTA -- All Mainers enrolled in the state's MaineCare program will be subject to a new federal law starting Aug. 1 that requires them to prove their citizenship status and identity to receive benefits.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday it has already identified 65,000 Mainers who meet the new requirements.

But that leaves 70,000 who will need to comply with the law when they seek to renew coverage, along with those who are applying for new coverage. Noncitizen MaineCare members or applicants must continue to prove their noncitizen status, according to DHHS.

MaineCare is the state's Medicaid program.

"We have been working to get the word out to MaineCare recipients and applicants about the new law," Barbara Van Burgel, of the department, said in a statement.

The state used money from the Maine Health Access Foundation to match current recipients to information already on file with the state, such as birth records, motor vehicle records and Social Security records, she said.

Maine Equal Justice Partners, an advocacy group for low-income Mainers who need government services, has spent the last 18 months training people to make sure recipients are aware of the new requirements, said Executive Director Sara Gagne-Holmes.

The federal requirement, which has been rolled out in other states, has hurt the poor in places such as Louisiana and Virginia, she said. She's hoping Mainers won't experience the same delays or lose their services.

For those born in Maine, it's relatively easy to track down a birth certificate. For those who were born elsewhere, or are homeless, it's a little harder, she said.

"Our largest concern was for the low-income individual who can't pay $60 to get a birth certificate," she said.

The state has some funds available to help people who can't afford it. For those who are already enrolled in MaineCare, the requirements will be addressed at their next scheduled review, according to DHHS.

It can take up to six weeks to get a copy of a birth certificate from another state, Gagne-Holmes said.

She said the state has done a good job trying to contact those who will be affected by the new law. But it's still a concern, she said.

"It is an extreme administrative burden and it has a potential to cause delay or denial in service," she said.

Current MaineCare members and new applicants should contact their eligibility workers for more information.

There's also a Citizenship and Identity hotline at (800) 701-1887.

Susan Cover -- 623-1056

scover@centralmaine.com

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Reader comments

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cherrie hight of waterville, ME
Jul 21, 2007 6:37 PM
ya and for people that been a proved for the last 5 years they should grandfather them in now the person was born out of state needs to show birth and id's they was good enough before for it now it's get the birth cert. or no help. dummmmmm, move....report abuse
Leon Richard of Farmington, ME
Jul 21, 2007 9:49 AM
Speaking of a waste of time and money. If I have to produce my papers to get a job to pay for the welfare for these people, they can muster up some papers to take the money the government took from me to give to them.

Every job I have taken, even as a contractor working for one firm and never getting a check, I have had to produce identification. Not one form, not a birth certificate. That would be too easy. I have to produce THREE forms of identification. Then I have to fill out some Immigration and Naturalization Service form like I am some kind of criminal in order to work.

This is bullshit of the highest order. The founders of this country would be rolling over in their graves. Producing my papers in order to begin work? Unbelievable.

But if I have to produce the papers to make the money, then the people the government is taking it for can produce theirs to recieve it. The ones with no papers can go back where they came from and get what they can from that government. report abuse
Tess of Waterville, ME
Jul 21, 2007 7:28 AM
This law is a waste of time and Money. Thousands of false ID's are created daily. The only sure way to prove citizenship status and identity is with a thumb print.report abuse

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