This document pertains to the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ questions and answers on the five-year bar. Section 403 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) provides that certain immigrants who enter the United States on or after August 22, 1996 are not eligible to receive federally-funded benefits, including Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), for five years from the date they enter the country with a status as a “qualified alien.”