WASHINGTON - June 28 - Starting July 1, 2006 citizens applying for or receiving Medicaid coverage will be required to provide passports, birth certificates, or other special documentation proving their status as U.S. citizens. This is likely to cause millions of U.S. citizens—especially those in nursing homes, people with mental or physical disabilities, and disaster victims—to lose their Medicaid coverage.

A lawsuit to be filed today, Wednesday, June 28, in Federal District Court, will challenge the constitutionality of this new law and will seek to stop its implementation. To explain what this law will mean for current and future Medicaid beneficiaries, and to describe the lawsuit, Families USA is hosting an audio conference call today, at 12:00 noon (EST).

WHEN:
Wednesday, June 28, 2006

TIME:
12:00 pm ET / 11:00 am CT / 10:00 am MT / 9:00 am PT

WHAT:
Audio Conference Call
Call-in number: (800) 946-0742
Code: 4596837

WHO:
Ron Pollack, Executive Director, Families USA
Rachel Klein, Deputy Director of Health Policy, Families USA
John Bouman, Attorney for the plaintiffs, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
Sarah Somers, Attorney for the plaintiffs, National Health Law Program

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