From the Arizona Republic:
The federal government sent letters this week to 6,600 Arizona residents who must clear up questions about their citizenship or immigration status or they could lose their Affordable Care Act health insurance next month.
The federal agency that oversees that federal health insurance marketplace sent notices to 310,000 individuals nationwide who must clear discrepancies by Sept. 5 or risk losing coverage by Sept. 30. These people have not responded to repeated attempts to reach them by mail, phone or e-mail, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
HHS said it has identified 970,000 people with questions about documents but already closed 450,000 of those cases. So far, nobody has lost coverage over questions about citizenship or immigration status, a spokesman said.
Another 210,000 cases are "in progress" with the expectation that they will be addressed by the end of the month, HHS said. The federal agency said it processes about 60,000 documents each day.
HHS said that questions arise when information listed in a person's marketplace application, such as Social Security or permanent resident card numbers, don't match the federal government's databases. http://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/2014/08/13/immigration-status-jeopardizes-obamacare-coverage-arizonans/14026331/
These people should never have had health insurance in the first place. One problem, of many, is that people should have proved they were citizens of the U.S. before they got the health insurance, not afterwards. This program was for the citizens of the U.S. and no one else.
It should also be concerning that of the 450,000 cases they checked, they did not find 1 case of someone not deserving of the insurance because they were not citizens. I find that very hard to believe. So, I am sure, those 6,600 Arizonans who have questions about their eligibility, the Obama administration will find a way to keep them insured, whether they are legally qualified or not.
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