D.C. to Delay Enforcing Medicaid Rule

Decision Puts Off Until at Least July 17 Need to Prove Citizenship

The District agreed yesterday to delay implementing a new federal Medicaid rule requiring documented proof of citizenship, said attorneys representing residents who could lose their coverage.

One day after a Washington firm filed suit in federal court to block the city from moving forward with enforcement, both sides yesterday afternoon agreed to wait until at least July 17.

The District, which has more than 140,000 Medicaid recipients, will not act "any sooner than 10 business days from July 1," according to the legal stipulation signed by attorneys for the plaintiffs and the D.C. attorney general's office.

The federal rule taking effect today makes documented citizenship a requirement for eligibility in the state-federal program for the poor and the disabled. Supporters in Congress pushed it as a measure to ensure that illegal immigrants were not getting coverage, but critics fear it will harm millions of poor, elderly and disabled Americans who are entitled to medical or nursing home benefits.

The delay "allows the District to thoughtfully consider what [its] next action will be with respect to the requirement," Clifton S. Elgarten of Crowell & Moring said.

Traci Hughes, a spokeswoman for D.C. Attorney General Robert J. Spagnoletti, said the hiatus would give local officials more opportunity to discuss the issues raised by the litigation. "We're looking forward to resolving it on behalf of those who need to use these types of services," she noted.

She said she did not know what conversations the city had held with federal officials, who have warned it and states that noncompliance would mean losing Medicaid matching funds. The District receives $900 million annually for its program.

"The city definitely is reviewing the implications of this hiatus," Hughes said.

Under the new provision, a passport, birth certificate or other specified paperwork must be supplied when a person applies for Medicaid or during annual reenrollment in the program. In the past, Medicaid recipients were able to declare their citizenship, under penalty of perjury, without having to show evidence of it.