SR 08-27 Dated 01/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

DFA SIGNATURE DATE:

December 23, 2008

FROM:

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR, DFA Terry R Smith

AT (OFFICE):

Division of Family Assistance

TO:

DFA Supervisors

District Office Managers of Operations

SUBJECT:

Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled (APTD), Aid to the Needy Blind (ANB), Medicaid for Employed Adults with Disabilities (MEAD), and Financial Assistance to Needy Families (FANF) Applicants and Recipients Determined Eligible for More Than One Category of Medical Assistance Can Choose The Program They Want To Receive; Applicants and Recipients of MEAD are No Longer Required to Earn the Federal Minimum Wage as a Condition of Eligibility; and MEAD Protected Earned Income Resources are Permanently Excluded from the Resource Determination Process for All Non-MEAD Categories of Medical Assistance

EFFECTIVE DATE:

January 1, 2009

 

SUMMARY

 

This SR releases the following policy:

§   applicants and recipients who are eligible for more than one of the following categories of medical assistance can choose which category to receive:

- Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled (APTD);

- Aid to the Needy Blind (ANB);

- Medicaid for Employed Adults with Disabilities (MEAD); or

- Financial Assistance to Needy Families (FANF);

§   employed and self-employed individuals are no longer required to earn the federal minimum wage as a condition of eligibility to receive MEAD; and

§   MEAD protected earned income resources are permanently excluded in the resource determination process for all non-MEAD categories of medical assistance.

 

FORMER POLICY

NEW POLICY

Eligibility for all other categories of medical assistance was reviewed before eligibility for MEAD was reviewed. Eligibility for MEAD was only determined when the individual failed to meet the:

-   income and resource requirements for the other medical assistance programs; or

-   medical criteria for APTD/ANB.

APTD, ANB, MEAD, or FANF applicants and recipients who are determined eligible for more than one category of medical assistance can choose which category of medical assistance they want to receive.

FORMER POLICY CONTINUED

NEW POLICY CONTINUED

Earning the federal minimum wage was a condition of eligibility for MEAD.

Earning the federal minimum wage is no longer a condition of eligibility for MEAD.

Liquid resources, including interest earned by the resources, accumulated solely from earnings by a MEAD-eligible individual while on MEAD, were excluded as a resource for the first 6 months of eligibility for non-MEAD adult categories of medical assistance, as long as the earnings were kept in a separate account from other resources.

Liquid resources, including interest earned by the resources, accumulated solely from earnings by a MEAD-eligible individual while on MEAD, are permanently excluded for all non-MEAD categories of medical assistance, as long as the resource is kept in a separate account and not mixed with any other funds.

 

POLICY

 

Choice of Programs

 

All individuals who are determined eligible for more than one of the following medical assistance programs can choose which program to receive:

·   APTD;

·   ANB;

·   MEAD; or

·   FANF.

Recipients who are eligible for more than one medical assistance program can change programs without an additional eligibility interview.

 

Minimum Wage

 

Individuals who are employed or self-employed are not required to earn the federal minimum wage as a condition of eligibility to receive medical assistance through the MEAD program.

 

Note: All employed and self-employed individuals must still make regular contributions to the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) as a condition of eligibility.

 

MEAD Protected Earned Income Resources

 

Liquid resources, including interest earned by the resources, accumulated solely from earnings by a MEAD-eligible individual while on MEAD, are permanently excluded for all non-MEAD categories of medical assistance, as long as the resource is kept in a separate account and not mixed with any other funds.

 

Note: The exclusion of the MEAD protected earned income resource from the resource determination process for non-MEAD categories of medical assistance ends if an individual makes deposits into this separate account:

·   after MEAD eligibility ends; or

·   during a MEAD extension due to unemployment.

 

NEW HEIGHTS SYSTEMS PROCEDURES AND IMPLEMENTATION

 

State Office received a list of HCBC-ABD/DD individuals who were requesting a change in their medical assistance category from HCBC to MEAD, to eliminate any cost of care liability, and has made the changes to these specific cases effective for January 1, 2009. As a temporary workaround until New HEIGHTS is able to automate this process, the maximum MEAD resource amount was entered into New HEIGHTS for each case requesting this change, to shift the individual into the MEAD category of medical assistance. State Office will maintain the control list for these cases. Contact State Office at 271-4254 for any other requests to change medical assistance category.

 

When the MEAD protected earned income resource is selected on the "Liquid Resources" screen, the amount of the resource will now be excluded for all FANF categories of medical assistance in addition to the non-MEAD adult categories of medical assistance.

 

POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS

 

Revised Family Assistance Manual Topics

 

PART 411 LESS COMMON TYPES OF RESOURCES: MEAD PROTECTED EARNED INCOME (EI) RESOURCES

 

Revised Adult Assistance Manual Topics

 

Section 109.13  Choice of Assistance

PART 210  MEDICAID FOR EMPLOYED ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES (MEAD)

Section 210.03  MEAD Employment-Related Requirements

PART 225  ASSISTANCE GROUP

PART 413 LESS COMMON TYPES OF RESOURCES: MEAD PROTECTED EARNED INCOME (EI) RESOURCES

 

IMPLEMENTATION

 

All policy is effective as of January 1, 2009.

 

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

 

DFA collaborated with the Bureau of Developmental Services (BDS) and the Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services (BEAS) to notify CFI and HCBC recipients who were eligible to change their category of medical assistance.

 

TRAINING

 

No training is planned.

 

DISPOSITION

 

This SR may be destroyed or deleted after its contents have been noted and the revised manual topics released by this SR have been posted to the On-line manuals.

/JThis SR will be distributed according to the electronic distribution list for Division of Family Assistance policy releases. This SR, and revised On-Line Manuals, will be available for agency staff in the On-Line Manual Library, and for public access on the Internet at http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/DHHS/DFA/LIBRARY, effective February 2, 2009.

 

This SR, and printed pages with posting instructions, will be distributed under separate cover to all hard copy holders of the Adult and Family Assistance Manuals.

 

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