Topeka Gov. Kathleen Sebelius today said she hopes the next Congress will change the way a new rule requires Medicaid beneficiaries to provide documented proof of citizenship.

“That is certainly one of the great concerns of what the requirements are now, and how realistic they are, and the possibility of disqualifying elderly, frail Kansans who may have dementia, who may not have family members.

“I mean to come up with original birth certificates and original documenation is pretty difficult for some of these folks, and I think that is a very dangerous path to go down,” Sebelius said.

State health officials say thousands of low-income Kansans have lost or been denied health care coverage because of the new rules.

In addition to the loss of benefits, the federal verification rule has been a bureaucratic nightmare, they said.

Under the new rules, each person applying for Medicaid benefits now must submit one primary document proving citizenship, such as a passport, or two secondary documents: one verifying citizenship, such as a birth certificate, and one verifying identity, such as a driver’s license or school identification card.

The measure was touted by supporters as a way to prevent illegal immigrants from enrolling in the state-federal program that provides health care to the disabled and needy.

But consumer advocates said many vulnerable people who legitimately were eligible for assistance would lose coverage because they couldn’t produce the necessary documentation.

State health officials have requested nearly $1.2 million in additional funds to hire more staff to handle the paperwork associated with the citizenship verification.

“It has just been overwhelming our system,” said Andy Allison, deputy director of the Kansas Health Policy Authority.