(from http://www.maine.gov)
Agency: Human Services

July 23rd, 2007
Effective August 1, anyone who currently gets or may want to apply for MaineCare benefits will have to prove U.S. citizenship and identity.

AUGUSTA – As the deadline nears for a new federal law to be enacted, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services continue efforts to educate Mainers who currently receive or will be applying for MaineCare.

Effective August 1, anyone who currently gets or may want to apply for MaineCare benefits will have to prove U.S. citizenship and identity. Anyone who cannot produce required documents will not receive MaineCare. Non-citizen MaineCare members or applicants must continue to prove their non-citizen status.

"We have been working to get the word out to MaineCare recipients and applicants about the new law," said Barbara Van Burgel, Director of DHHS' Office of Integrated Access and Support. "We've used grant funds from the Maine Health Access Foundation to verify birth records, to compare our records to those at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and to review Social Security records."

These efforts have succeeded, identifying more than 65,000 Mainers who meet the new requirements.

"We are happy with the results, but it's important that those who currently receive MaineCare act quickly if they have not followed the steps to prove citizenship and identity," Van Burgel said.

For those individuals who are currently receiving MaineCare, requirements will be addressed during their next scheduled review. For new applicants, documents will be requested for all family members as part of the application process. In all cases, documents will only need to be provided once.

MaineCare members and new applicants should contact their eligibility workers for more information. When eligibility staff have determined what will be needed to fulfill the new requirements, those who have questions or need assistance in obtaining documents may contact the Citizenship and Identity hotline at 1-800-701-1887.

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