More than5,800 Oklahoma residents were dropped from the state's Medicaid program becausethey could not meet federal proof-of-citizenship requirements, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority said at a meeting on Thursday, the Tulsa World reports. The guidelines are intended toprevent undocumented immigrants from enrolling in the program.
Theauthority does not know the immigration status of those who were dropped fromMedicaid, called SoonerCare in Oklahoma. However, OHCA CEO Mike Fogartysaid, "This leads us to speculate, if not conclude, that this has become arequirement that some people have had difficulty overcoming," adding,"There has not been a problem with an invalid case load."
Of the beneficiaries dropped from the program, 62% were children, 58% werewhite, 18% were black, 13% were American Indian, 10% were Hispanic and 1% wasAsian-American. Those percentages are in line with those for the program as awhole, Fogarty said. According to OHCA, each SoonerCare beneficiary is notifiedat least four times of the proof-of-citizenship requirements, but many do notunderstand or do not have the necessary documentation. According to the World,an additional 5,500 to 6,000 Oklahomans are expected to be dropped fromSoonerCare on Jan. 1, 2008.
Also at Thursday's meeting, Fogarty reported that the number of uninsuredchildren in the state decreased by one-third over the past decade, largelybecause of increased enrollment in SoonerCare. About 343,000 children wereenrolled in the program in November -- more than twice the number enrolled 10years ago (Krehbiel, Tulsa World, 12/14).
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