Sign In
Welcome to the California Department of Health Care Services 
Skip Navigation LinksHome > Services > Medi-Cal > DRAQuestions and Answerspage36

Using an affidavit as evidence of identity for children ............... page 36

  • Question 1:  Can a relative other than a parent who is not a Medi-Cal recipient verify identity for a child under 16?
  •  Answer 1:  Yes, but only a parent, guardian or caretaker relative can sign the affidavit of identity for children under 16.  Allowing caretaker relatives to sign affidavits of identity for children under 16 was added by final federal regulations issued 7/2/07.  This addition will be described in an upcoming ACWDL.  For children under 16, the application is considered acceptable documentation of identity (ACWDL 07-12, P.12), so the need to sign a separate affidavit for this purpose should seldom be an issue.
  • Question 2:  (posted 11/02/07):  When a child under 16 turns 16, is the identity documentation previously provided still valid, especially since the requirement is to provide documentation only once in a lifetime?  And if it's still valid until the kid turns 21 and gets discounted, is it still valid years later when the adult person comes back in to apply as a parent or aged person?  Is the affidavit of identity valid indefinitely?
  • Answer 2:  (posted 11/02/07):  Yes, the affidavit of identity is valid indefinitely. 
  • Question 3: (posted 04/24/08):  Under what circumstances would we use an affidavit of identity for a child under 16?
  • Answer 3: (posted 04/24/08):  When no other acceptable evidence of identity is provided at the time of application or redetermination. This would almost never occur, since the application for the child can be used as identity documentation for a child under 16.

Documentation of Citizenship/Identity for CalWorks Cases ............... page 36

  • Question 1:  CalWORKs does not require children ages 16-18 to provide evidence of identity.  Must evidence of identity be required of these children to be eligible for Medi-Cal in the CalWORKs case?      
  • Answer 1:  No.  Persons, including children, who are determined eligible for federal CalWORKS benefits are automatically eligible for no-cost Medi-Cal effective the date of their Cal-WORKS eligibility.  The DRA citizenship and identity requirements do not affect Medi-Cal eligibility that is established based on ongoing CalWORKs eligibility.         
  • Question 2:  Do individuals who were CalWORKS eligible in the past need to provide documentation to establish Medi-Cal eligibility?      
  • Answer 2:  Individuals who have met the citizenship and identity requirements for ongoing CalWORKS eligibility do not have to provide that information again to establish Medi-Cal eligibility in the future.  However, counties must update MEDS to indicate how the Medi-Cal citizenship and identity requirements were met if that information is not already in MEDS.
  • Question 3: (posted 11/15/07):  The State instructed counties that the CalWORKs citizenship and identity documentation requirements fulfill the DRA requirements.  How will MEDS get populated with the AP19 information for CalWORKs recipients, for those fields that are not already populated through the one-time mass birth record match?  Will MEDS do this automatically for anyone approved for CalWORKs, (both recipients currently on as another one-time activity and subsequently for all CalWORKs approvals)?  Will the counties be required to do either of these activities?
  • Answer 3:  (posted 11/15/07):  After the MEDS changes are completed for the interim process, MEDS will run a one time update to post appropriate citizenship and identity data for individuals who do not have those fields already completed on MEDS and are CalWORKs eligible at the time that process is run.  MEDS will also be making changes to post appropriate citizenship and identity data for individuals who do not have those fields already completed on MEDS and are reported to MEDS as CalWORKs eligible.
  • Question 4: (posted 04/24/08): Would a CalWORKS beneficiary who gets CalWORKS during the 90 days they have to provide documents and then loses eligibility because eligibility wasn’t met need to provide evidence of citizenship right away or at redetermination?
  • Answer 4: (posted 04/24/08):  We would treat them like beneficiaries but they should provide evidence of citizenship right away since they, in fact, had not ultimately established CalWORKS eligibility. Therefore, we would not wait until redetermination to request evidence of citizenship in this situation.  Other than that, they would be treated the same as beneficiaries.  However, if they stop making a good faith effort to obtain documents they are not eligible for full scope Medi-Cal and should be reduced to restricted scope benefits if the reasonable opportunity period ends.
  • Question 5: (posted 07/11/08):  Do we need to complete the DHCS 0011 “Proof of Citizenship or Identity” to validate the individual has met the Citizenship/Identity requirements when they come off of CalWORKS?
  • Answer 5: (posted 07/11/08):  No. MEDS will be populated by the Department for those who are CalWORKs eligible.