520 ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS THAT FOLLOW APA POLICY
520 A. APPLICATION AND REVIEW PROCESS
In order for the Division of Public Assistance (DPA) to determine a household's eligibility, the household must:
Note:
If a disability related Medicaid application is submitted online through the FFM or SSP, additional information will be needed from the household, such as resources.
An FFM or SSP application can only be used to apply for Medicaid, not APA .
All households may file an application the same day they contact DPA to establish a protected filing date. DPA will help all households with the application and renewal process.
A Native Family Assistance Program (NFAP) application form is an acceptable application and recertification form.
Medicaid also uses the MED 4 application form for an individual applying for or receiving institutional or HCB waiver services. The application must be completed, and necessary forms signed by the applicant, a relative or a guardian acting on his or her behalf. If the applicant is married and living with his or her spouse or entering a nursing home, collect income and resource information of the spouse in order to determine if the community spouse should receive an income maintenance allowance from the institutional or HCB waiver spouse.
Fee agents help households who live in communities that do not have a local DPA office apply for public assistance. The fee agent can help the household apply online or use DPA applications and other forms provided by DPA . Households are not required to go to a fee agent and may apply directly through DPA .
The receipt of an identifiable application by DPA establishes the application filing date. An identifiable application must contain the applicant's name, address, and signature. When the applicant asks to apply for another program prior to the eligibility determination, use the original filing date and benefit start date for all programs.
Note:
Electronic signatures are only allowed on Medicaid applications submitted through the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) and the ARIES Self-Service Portal (SSP).
For paper applications, the signature must either be telephonically recorded by a caseworker through the Virtual Call Center (VCC) or a "wet signature". The term "wet signature" refers to someone placing a physical signature or distinct mark on a hard copy of a document with a pen to make it legally binding. Typed, digital, and handwritten signature created on an electronic device (finger/stylus to screen) are not acceptable.
When households apply for multiple programs, DPA must make a Medicaid determination based on the information in the application. DPA must not delay the Medicaid determination if more information is needed for other programs.
A new application and interview are required when an individual is moving from a MAGI Medicaid category to an old age/disability related Medicaid category.
Children in SSI -related categories (for examples, SSI , TEFRA , HCB waiver services, Special LTC Standard, etc.) are reviewed annually.
520 B. WHEN AN APPLICATION IS REQUIRED:
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520 C. PROOF OF UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND QUALIFIED ALIEN STATUS
Refer to APA Manual Section 421 for policy on U.S. citizenship and eligible alien status.
See this section for U.S. citizenship verification procedures and identity verification procedures.
Citizenship and qualified alien status must be verified for most individuals. Verification of satisfactory immigration status is not required for an individual applying for Emergency Treatment for Aliens (See section 576). In addition, some U.S. citizens are exempt from the requirement to provide proof. See section 520-B(1) below.
Once a person’s U.S. citizenship is documented and recorded, it is not necessary to get proof again unless that person’s citizenship becomes questionable.
Proof of U.S. citizenship or qualified alien status is only needed for the individuals who will receive Medicaid benefits, not for individuals applying for or renewing Medicaid on behalf of someone else.
If a mandatory household member is found ineligible for Medicaid for lack of verification of citizenship and identify, or immigration status, that individual's needs and income continue to be included in the financial eligibility determination for the household.
Reminder:
If an individual claims he or she is an U.S. citizen or qualified alien and the proof of status cannot be promptly verified through a computer match or others acceptable documentation, the individual must be given a reasonable opportunity period (90 days) to provide acceptable proof of their citizenship or qualified alien status. See Section 520(C).
1. WHEN PROOF OF U.S. CITIZENSHIP IS NOT REQUIRED
The following U.S. citizens are exempt from the requirement to provide proof:
Qualified aliens receiving these benefits are still required to provide proof of their qualified alien status.
Note:
In some circumstances non-citizens may receive SSDI , SSI or Medicare. Therefore, receipt of these programs does not exempt the individual from verifying their alien status.
2. ELECTRONIC AND INTERFACE VERIFICATION FOR U.S. CITIZENSHIP
Data Matches and Interfaces
Verification of an individual's citizenship is first pursued through an electronic interface.
A) Federal Data Services HUB
In most cases, proof of citizenship will be immediately available in ARIES through a data match with the federal data services hub.
B) State Verification Exchange System (SVES) with the Social Security Administration (SSA)
If proof is not available through the federal data services hub in ARIES , it is possible that acceptable proof may be available through other data matches in EIS , but only if the individual is already known to EIS . For individuals whose Medicaid eligibility is being determined in EIS , proof of citizenship or qualified alien status must be sought through electronic data interfaces in EIS .
Proof of citizenship will be available within a few days through a SVES data match with SSA . If the SVES response does not verify citizenship, the caseworker must confirm that the correct name and SSN was used for the data match. If not, the caseworker must make the corrections in either ARIES or EIS and request a new data match.
The SVES interface in EIS may be used to verify a person's SSN , U.S. citizenship and identity. The ET may accomplish this by submitting a SVES inquiry for one or more persons on the INME/SVIR or SSDO screens.
3. PROOF OF U.S. CITIZENSHIP
If proof through an electronic data match or interface is not promptly available, verification of the individual's citizenship or qualified alien status may be obtained through documentary proof.
When accepting documentary proof, a photocopy, fax, scanned, or other copy of a document must be accepted to the same extent as an original document, unless there is good reason to question the document or the information on the document. Although some documents contain a statement, DO NOT COPY, DPA staff may copy and file these documents in the case file for official purpose of establishing Medicaid eligibility.
4. DOCUMENTARY PROOF OF U.S. CITIZENSHIP
The following documents are considered acceptable evidence of citizenship for other DPA programs requiring proof of identity, these documents are acceptable evidence for both citizenship and identity.
5. PROOF OF U.S. CITIZENSHIP OBTAINED USING A LISTED DOCUMENT AND PROOF OF IDENTITY
Only if citizenship cannot be obtained through an electronic interface and the individual does not provide a document listed in section 520 B(4), a document from the following list and proof of identity from section 520 B(6) may be used for U.S. citizenship verification.
6. PROOF OF IDENTITY ONLY
7. PROOF OF QUALIFIED ALIEN STATUS
If verification of alien status is not available from electronic sources, an individual must provide proof of his or her alien status.
The following documents are acceptable for determining alien status and whether the alien is subject to the five-year waiting period. Certain USCIS documents can be viewed online at https.www.uscis.gov/forms/all-forms.
IMMIGRATION STATUS |
VERIFICATION DOCUMENT (USCIS FORMS) |
Legal Permanent Resident |
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Refugee |
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Special Immigrants |
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Asylee |
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Parolee |
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Deportation Withheld |
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Conditional Entrant |
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Battered Spouse of Child of U.S. Citizen or Permanent Legal Resident |
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Cuban or Haitian Entrant |
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U.S. Military Veteran, Active Duty Military (includes spouse and unmarried dependent children under 21) |
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Victims Of Trafficking (includes certain eligible immediate family members holding a derivative T-Visa) |
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American Indian Born In Canada |
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Note:
If an applicant presents a receipt indicating that he or she has applied to USCIS for a replacement document for one of the documents identified above, contact the USCIS to verify status by filing a G-845 with the local USCIS district office and attach a copy of the receipt.
8. SYSTEMATIC ALIEN VERIFICATION FOR ENTITLEMENTS (SAVE) PROGRAM
The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE ) is a program run by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services which provides both an online system and a paper-based process to verify the immigration status of aliens.
The Verification Information System (VIS) is the online verification system. The paper-based process makes use of the G-845, Document Verification Request.
The documents provided by each alien as verification of immigration status must be authenticated by using the SAVE program. The VIS system will identify whether or not the alien has been lawfully admitted into the U.S. However, it may not provide enough information to determine whether or not the individual is a "qualified alien." The date of entry indicated on the VIS database may not accurately reflect the date an immigrant physically arrived in the U.S. Secondary verification may be needed if no records are found or if there are discrepancies between the alien's documents and VIS .
Written consent from the household is required to contact USCIS to obtain documentation or information to verify the alien's status.
If the alien does not want the caseworker to contact USCIS , the household can withdraw its application or participate without that member.
Written consent is not required to contact USCIS to verify the validity of documentation provided by the alien or use the SAVE Program inquiry process.
Verification of each alien's status through the SAVE program is required whenever an application is processed for a household containing one or more alien members, and whenever an alien is added to a household. All such contacts must be clearly documented in the case record.
See Administrative Procedures Manual Section 105-14 for instructions on how to use the SAVE program.
Refer to APA Manual Section 420 for policy on development of income requirements.
Exception #1:
Pursuit of SSI benefits is not a requirement for Medicaid and APA Manual Section 420-2 does not apply to a Medicaid-only case. However, an individual must still meet APA /SSI criteria for blindness, disability, or age. See APA Manual Sections 424 - 425.
Note:
Pursuit of UIB , Early Retirement, and Retirement is required if the individual is eligible. Eligibility for UIB is dependent on the ability to look for and accept employment. See MAGI MS 813 D or exemptions to apply for UIB .
520 E. DISABILITY DETERMINATIONS
The case file should contain a copy of the recipient’s long-term care medical authorization, approval for HCB waiver services from the DSDS , and the SSI or SSA approval, whichever are applicable. If the person is disabled, it is very important to record the SSA date of disability onset, as this date may determine the start date for retroactive Medicaid eligibility.
Refer to APA Manual Section 425 and Administrative Procedures Manual Section 115-9 for policy and procedures on disability determinations.
Exception:
SGA is not a factor for Working Disabled Medicaid Buy-In. See Section 534.
Note:
A disability decision made by the Social Security Administration (SSA ) always trumps a decision made by Disability Determination Service (DDS ). Once SSA determines that an individual does not meet the disability requirements, it supersedes any state only disability determination that found the individual disabled. If we have an open APA /ME case based on a determination of disability made by DDS and SSA then determines that there is no disability, we would close down the APA /ME case based on the SSA denial.
520 F. VERIFICATION AND DOCUMENTATION
Refer to APA Manual Sections 400-4 & 410-4 for policy on verification, and APA Manual Section 400-5 for policy on documentation.
Refer to APA Manual Section 480-3 for policy on changes.
Refer to MAGI MS 802 for policy on notices.
Refer to APA Manual Section 480-6 for policy on loss of contact.
Refer to APA Manual Section 424 for policy on qualifying age.
Exceptions:
• SSI Child Cases. A blind or disabled child receiving a SSI payment and related Medicaid must be under age of 18. These children are not included in any other Medicaid categories.
• Disabled Child at Home (TEFRA ). To be eligible for the TEFRA eligibility category, an individual must be under the age of 19.
Refer to APA Manual Section 433-4 for policy on ABLE accounts.
Crowdfunding is the practice of obtaining needed funding by soliciting contributions from a large number of people, typically from the online community, e.g. go fund me. If the client sets up the account themselves and has access to it, it is countable income in the month received and a countable resource the following month.
If the client is a recipient of funds from a crowdfunding account, it is countable income in the month received, except any funds directly paid to vendors on behalf of the client.
520 M. INELIGIBLE SPOUSE RETIREMENT FUND
Retirement funds belonging to an ineligible community spouse is excluded as a resource per APA MS 460-4A. APA MS 431-2G provides a list of possible retirement funds that an ineligible spouse may have.
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