SSN Data Match for Citizenship/Identity

The state DHCS implemented a SSN matching process to verify the citizenship and identity of Medi-Cal applicants and beneficiaries who are subject to the DRA citizenship/identity requirements.

DHCS requests citizenship verification as part of the daily SSN validation with SSA. This is done using MEDS data submitted by DHCS to the SSA SVES each night.

SSA returns SSN validation results and, if applicable, citizenship and identity verification results two business days later for display in MEDS.

Conditions for SSN Data Match

SSA Citizenship/Identity verification requests for applicants and beneficiaries are automatically generated if an SSN Validation request is triggered or if a daily MEDS update transaction is initiated.

In order for a SSA Citizenship/Identity Verification request to be initiated, the first three conditions below must be met if an SSN Validation request is triggered. All conditions must be met if it is due to a daily MEDS update transaction.

The AID-CODE or COUNTY-ID field indicates there is Medi-Cal (e.g., 30, 3N, IE), and
U.S. Citizenship is indicated with a value of: A, B, N, Q, or 5 on the CITIZEN-ALIEN-IND field, and
Citizenship documentation in the CITIZENSHIP-DOC-TYPE field is not present or present at Tier 3 or below, and
If it is a daily MEDS update and DHCS has not previously received any prior SSA Citizenship/Identity Verification result (verified or unverified) for this record.

Example: If the CITIZENSHIP-DOC-TYPE field contains a 3C (religious record) or 7W (written affidavit), an SSA Citizenship/Identity Verification will be triggered. If this field contains a 1A (U.S. passport), a Citizenship/Identity request will not be triggered.

The SSN data match applies to those records that meet the trigger conditions mentioned above, including records that are in a pending status.

Impact of SSN Validation

SSA will attempt to verify citizenship/identity only if the SSN can be validated at the highest level (SSN-VER code = A, C, or E). These codes indicate SSA was able to successfully match the following criteria to the SSA’s NUMIDENT database:

SSN,
First seven letters of the last name,
First letter of the first name,
Middle name (if applicable), and
Date of birth (plus or minus one year).

Note: Citizenship/Identity may not be verified even if the SSN is validated at the highest level. SSA only provides citizenship/identity verification for SSNs which are fully validated during the SSA’s dating matching process.

Citizenship/Identity Document Type and Source

MEDS will automatically update SSA’s response if the current Citizenship or Identity DOC-TYPE code is blank or the code is lower than the SSN data match.

An unverified SSA Citizenship/Identity result will not update the DOC-TYPE field on MEDS. The existing code in this field, if any, will remain unchanged.

Example: A successful SSN match result will replace a DOC-TYPE of 3D (school record) or 4H (medical record), but it will not replace 1A (U.S. passport) or 2E (certification of birth abroad).

Allowable Changes

If Citizenship/Identity is already verified by SSA, the Citizenship/ Identity Document Type may only be updated to a higher level of verification.

Example: 2Z may be updated to 1A (U.S. passport) or 2K (U.S. military record). It may not, however, be updated to 3B (insurance record) or 7W (written affidavit).

Correcting SSN Data Match Results

Follow these steps if SSA’s Citizenship/Identity verification is INCORRECT:

Submit a GadWIN ticket to request the MEDS Coordinator remove the SSN-VER code via an online EW03 transaction, and
Enter updated or corrected information (SSN, name, birthdate, citizen/alien indicator) in CalSAWS. This will trigger a new request to SSA for SSN Validation and Citizenship/Identity verification.

SSN Validation removal will also remove the SSA Citizenship/Identity Verification (2Z). MEDS will change the DOC-TYPE from 2Z to 9S (SSN Verification also removed SSA Citizenship/Identity verification) along with alert #9054.

The Citizenship/Identity DOC-SOURCE fields will also be updated to the county number of the county submitting the EW03 transaction.