Massachusetts Secure Verification of Citizenship through Automation of Vital Records Abstract
In 2007, 27 states received Medicaid Transformation Grants under Section 6081 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. The grants were rewarded to states that proposed innovative methods which in the end of the two years are designed to produce better health outcomes at lower cost.
The Center for Health Transformation is highlighting states that have received these Medicaid Transformation Grants, and will be following their progress for the next two years. In order for key decisionmakers and industry leaders from around the country to learn from others’ successes, it is our intention to provide this resource in order to showcase innovative practices from across the nation. In the future, this site will be interactive, allowing program directors to submit updates and comments regarding their program.
The Medicaid Transformation Grant provides a unique and valuable opportunity for Massachusetts Medicaid (MassHealth) to collaborate with the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics (RVRS) for the purpose of developing and implementing systems to improve and secure the citizenship verification process, providing significant benefits to both the agency and to MassHealth beneficiaries while reducing fraud and inefficiency.
The primary goals of this project are to:
- Digitize what are currently primarily paper-based birth and death records
- Implement an electronic verification of vital events system (EVVE)Reduce fraud by obtaining citizenship information directly from the governmental source
- Reduce waste by rapidly identifying deceased individuals
Digitizing Massachusetts vital records
Currently, only a fraction of Massachusetts birth certificates are available for electronic certification or matching, primarily limited to individuals under the age of 21. The remaining birth records, and all death records, are certified manually from paper indexes and bound paper records. This project proposes to optically scan and enter into a database via optical character recognition (OCR) those records and data entry, from 1935 to present, which are currently paper-based.
Implementing EVVE
This project proposes to utilize existing, proven, technology developed by the National Association of Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS) for instant verification of birth and death events. Extensively piloted, this system is active in six states and will ultimately allow for nationwide verification of vital records. This will allow MassHealth and other states’ Medicaid agencies to verify Massachusetts birth certificates.
Reducing fraud
Massachusetts is one of only a handful of open-record states. This means that any individual can obtain an official copy of a Massachusetts birth certificate. This, compounded by the fact that 351 cities and towns also issue certified copies in varying formats, makes identification of authentic documents difficult, and the system prone to fraud. Implementation of an electronic database and verification system will allow MassHealth and other state Medicaid agencies across the United States to confidently receive citizenship confirmation from Massachusetts birth certificates.
Reducing waste
Electronic records and verification will allow for rapid identification of deceased persons, allowing Medicaid agencies to quickly cease benefits when necessary. In addition, the ability to match birth and death records – eventually nationwide – will prevent fraudulent attempts to apply with birth records of deceased children and other individuals.
In total, the project is estimated to total $3,950,440.00.
