The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has reversed a rule that banned infants born in the United States to immigrant parents from receiving automatic coverage under Medicaid.
The rule was part of a broader effort by the CMS to require all new and renewing Medicaid beneficiaries to provide documentation of US citizenship. However, several health care groups assailed documentation requirements for infants born in US hospitals to immigrant parents, saying the rule could delay or prevent necessary medical care (Kuehn BM. JAMA. 2006;296:2788-2790).
Medicaid covers the cost of labor and delivery for eligible mothers and emergency Medicaid covers the cost of labor and delivery for women who are not eligible for Medicaid, such as illegal immigrants and legal immigrants who have been in the country less than 5 years. Now, all infants born in US hospitals to women whose deliveries were covered by Medicaid . . . [Full Text of this Article]
