Unable to Prove Citizenship, at Least 115,000 People Risk Losing Health Coverage

Thousands of consumers risk losing financial aid for health care premiums under President Barack Obama’s law unless they clear up lingering questions about their U.S. citizenship and their real incomes, administration officials said Monday.

Andy Slavitt, a senior official overseeing the HealthCare.gov website, said that at least 115,000 people who could not prove they were citizens or legal U.S. residents will lose coverage on Sept. 30.

The administration says it has made repeated attempts to reach those consumers, but immigrant advocacy groups say in some cases the government has lost documents sent in to prove eligibility. People living in the country illegally are not entitled to coverage under the law.

Florida and Texas top the list of citizenship- and immigration-related cancellations, with 35,100 and 19,600, respectively. But the administration did not report any information for immigration mega-states like California and New York, which are running their own insurance marketplaces. That omission means total cancellations could be significantly higher.

Slavitt said people whose immigration and citizenship documents were lost by the government can apply to have coverage reinstated.

{snip}

Nearly 9 in 10 people–85 percent–of the 8 million who got coverage under Obama’s law have gotten financial aid, which is keyed to income, household size and other factors.

Without it, the coverage would be unaffordable for many. The government says the average consumer is paying $82 a month on a premium of $346. That works out to an average monthly subsidy of $264.

{snip}