Governor Perdue Announces Strict Documentation Requirement for Medicaid Registration

DHR to Reduce Fraud, Verify Legal Residency by W-2 or Pay Stubs

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that he has instructed the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) which administers Medicaid enrollment for the Georgia Department of Community Health to institute a new income verification requirement for applicants to the program.  Starting January 1, 2006, applicants for Georgia 's Family Medicaid program will have to provide documents such as a W-2 forms, pay stubs, or income tax returns before becoming eligible for benefits.  Prior to the Governor's action Aged, Blind and Disabled Medicaid applicants were required to verify their income eligibility to receive services, but Family Medicaid applicants were not.

“We need to ensure that those receiving these taxpayer-funded services are U.S. and Georgia citizens and that their income makes them eligible,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “This new requirement will reduce fraud in the taxpayer-funded healthcare system and ensure that Medicaid recipients are legal residents entitled to public assistance.”

The strict new income verification requirement is specifically designed to reduce opportunities for fraud and abuse.  The only exception to the new policy is for pregnant women and their newborns which allows them to receive immediate prenatal and postnatal care.  

Income verification documents will serve as an additional check for legal U.S. citizenship.   DHR began confirming legal U.S citizenship in 1986 by requiring a social security number (SSN) before processing a Medicaid application for potential beneficiaries.  The SSN is then validated by a monthly computer check of the Social Security Administration database.  Failure to provide a valid SSN for a direct recipient of Medicaid services leads to a denial of the application.  In the case of newborns, proof that a parent has applied for a SSN is accepted and receipt of the SSN is verified at a later date.  For legal workers who are not United States citizens with an SSN, their legal status is verified with the Department of Homeland Security through a designated web portal.