PERMITTING STATES TO ENSURE COVERAGE WITHOUT A 5-YEAR DELAY OF CERTAIN CHILDREN AND PREGNANT WOMEN UNDER THE MEDICAID PROGRAM AND CHIP.

SEC. 214. PERMITTING STATES TO ENSURE COVERAGE WITHOUT A 5-YEAR DELAY OF CERTAIN CHILDREN AND PREGNANT WOMEN UNDER THE MEDICAID PROGRAM AND CHIP.(a) Medicaid Program.—Section 1903(v) (42 U.S.C. 1396b(v)) is amended—(1) in paragraph (1), by striking “paragraph (2)” and inserting “paragraphs (2) and (4)”; and(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:“(4)(A) A State may elect (in a plan amendment under this title) to provide medical assistance under this title, notwithstanding sections 401(a), 402(b), 403, and 421 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, to children and pregnant women who are lawfully residing in the United States (including battered individuals described in section 431(c) of such Act) and who are otherwise eligible for such assistance, within either or both of the following eligibility categories:“(i) Pregnant women.—Women during pregnancy (and during the 60-day period beginning on the last day of the pregnancy).“(ii) Children.—Individuals under 21 years of age, including optional targeted low-income children described in section 1905(u)(2)(B).“(B) In the case of a State that has elected to provide medical assistance to a category of aliens under subparagraph (A), no debt shall accrue under an affidavit of support against any sponsor of such an alien on the basis of provision of assistance to such category and the cost of such assistance shall not be considered as an unreimbursed cost.123 STAT. 57“(C) As part of the State’s ongoing eligibility redetermination requirements and procedures for an individual provided medical assistance as a result of an election by the State under subparagraph (A), a State shall verify that the individual continues to lawfully reside in the United States using the documentation presented to the State by the individual on initial enrollment. If the State cannot successfully verify that the individual is lawfully residing in the United States in this manner, it shall require that the individual provide the State with further documentation or other evidence to verify that the individual is lawfully residing in the United States.”.(b) CHIP.—Section 2107(e)(1) (42 U.S.C. 1397gg(e)(1)), as amended by sections 203(a)(2) and 203(d)(2), is amended by redesignating subparagraphs (E) and (F) as subparagraphs (F) and (G), respectively and by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following new subparagraph:“(E) Paragraph (4) of section 1903(v) (relating to optional coverage of categories of lawfully residing immigrant children or pregnant women), but only if the State has elected to apply such paragraph with respect to such category of children or pregnant women under title XIX.”.