313 ASSIGNMENT OF CHILD/SPOUSAL MEDICAL SUPPORT RIGHTS (MAM)

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Applications for Medical Assistance on Behalf of Parents and Other Adults and Their Children

If parents or other adults apply for Medicaid on behalf of themselves and their children, the applicant must assign medical support and payment rights to DHHS and cooperate in establishing paternity, obtaining medical support and payments, and providing information about liable third parties as a condition of their own eligibility, unless they are exempt. Pregnant women eligible for MCPW are exempt. Parents who are not exempt from the requirement have an ongoing obligation to cooperate in order to maintain their eligibility for Medicaid. The decision whether or not to cooperate will not affect their child's eligibility for Medicaid.

Cooperation with this requirement includes fully completing Division of Child Support (DCSS) Form 725, Application for Child Support Services, to initiate assignment.

If an applicant indicates an absent parent is "unknown," the individual must meet with a DCSS representative as a condition of eligibility.

Medical assistance applicants who refuse to assign support, complete the DCSS Form 725, or meet with a DCSS representative as required, are denied assistance. No good cause exists. Document the refusal in the record.

The support that must be assigned to DHHS includes payments which are owed, are pending, or are continuing as of the date the applicant assigns rights to support income to DHHS.

Child-Only Applications

If a parent or caretaker relative files an application for Medicaid on behalf of a child only, the requirements to assign the child's rights to support and payment and cooperate in establishing paternity and pursuing medical support payment do not apply to the parent or caretaker relative. It is not a condition of the child's eligibility that the parent or caretaker relative assign the child's rights to support and payment and cooperate in establishing paternity and pursuing medical support payment.

Although the parent or caretaker is not required to assign the child's rights over to DHHS, the automatic assignment of an individual's rights to payment for medical care by third parties to the extent that Medicaid has made a payment is required. Receipt of medical assistance is an assignment to DHHS of the parent or caretaker relative's rights to all third party medical insurance or payments.

Although parents and caretaker relatives are not required to cooperate in establishing paternity and pursing medical support when only the child is applying for Medicaid, FSS must ask the parent or caretaker relative whether the child has health insurance to identify legally liable third party resources.

References: RSA 161:C-22, RSA 161-H:1 et seq, 42 CFR 435.610, 42 U.S.C. 1396a, 42 USC 1396K, 42 USC 1396r-6(a)(25)(H)