STATE OF ALASKA

Department of Health and Social Services

Division of Public Assistance

TRANSMITTAL NUMBER:  MC #64

MANUAL:  Family Medicaid (MAGI) program

DATE:  June 1, 2015

We are making several changes to incorporate new policy and clarify existing policy.

Other changes are either technical in nature or clarifications that are the result of policy questions or suggestions from the field.

Highlights of these policy revisions are described below. If you have any questions please contact the Policy and Program Development Team at dpapolicy@alaska.gov.

OVERVIEW OF CHANGES

5006-2 Adequate Notice

• Deleted returned mail from the list of reasons we can close a Medicaid case with adequate notice as adverse action is required.

• Renumbered section for readability.

5007 Continuous Eligibility for Children

• Added a note to clarify that there is no CEP when a Medicaid case was approved in error.

5012 B Temporary Absence and Residents Residing out of the State

• Edited the first sentence to clarify that Medicaid applicants or recipients may not be not be denied or terminated just because they are temporarily absent from Alaska. There has been confusion in the field that only recipients can have an allowable temporary absence and this is not correct

5016 B Who is Not Required to Cooperate

• Clarified that the pregnant woman exemption is not just for the unborn baby but for all of the children in the household.

5195 Individuals under Title IV-E Foster care and Adoption Assistance

• Added a note to clarify that the State of Alaska may approval tribal entities to access Title IV-E funding to pay for foster care in tribally licensed homes. Tanana Chiefs Conference is the only tribe in Alaska currently authorized to determine a tribal foster child’s eligibility for Title IV-E funding.  

5210 Post Medicaid - Increased Child Support

• Replaced child support with court ordered spousal support throughout this section. Post Medicaid eligibility can now only occur with an increase in court ordered spousal support as child support is not countable income for MAGI Medicaid.

• Replaced Family Medicaid references with MAGI Medicaid as Family Medicaid ended December 31, 2013.

5220-2 A Eligibility Determination

• Replaced Family Medicaid references with MAGI Medicaid throughout this section as Family Medicaid ended December 31, 2013.

• Added an example to clarify that if there is no caretaker eligibility, there is no transitional Medicaid eligibility.

5320 Pregnant Woman Postpartum Eligibility

• Clarified that the pregnant woman exemption is not just for the unborn baby but for all of the children in the household.

5700 MAGI Medicaid Categories

• Clarified the order that should be used to determine which category to use if an individual is potentially eligible in more than one MAGI category.

• Added an example showing how to determine which category to use if an individual is potentially eligible in more than one MAGI category.

5701 Parents and other Caretaker Relatives

• Removed reference to manual section 5120-1 as this reference to the caretaker relative definition is no longer accurate.

5703 A Newborns (Under age 1)

• Added note to clarify that if a Pregnant Woman was issued Medicaid in error, there is no automatic Medicaid eligibility for the newborn. The Medicaid authorized in error should be closed with timely notice of adverse action.

5710 MAGI Medicaid Household Composition

• Updated the 2014 IRS tax filing threshold for tax dependents.

5710-1 Household Composition related to MAGI Income

• Clarified that married couples cannot claim each other as tax dependents.

• Clarified that spouses filing taxes jointly are in the same MAGI household, even if they do not live together.

5710-2 Construct a MAGI Household for each applicant

• Clarified that married couples cannot claim each other as tax dependents.

5710-3 Determining Countable Income for each member using MAGI Rules

• Clarified that spouses filing taxes jointly are in the same MAGI household, even if they do not live together.

• Updated the 2014 IRS tax filing threshold for tax dependents on Chart A, Chart B, and Chart C.

5715-2 Excluded Income

• Clarified that school loans, foster care payments, all refugee payments, employer sponsored (PERS) occupational disability benefits, and gifts/inheritances as exempt income. 

5715-3 Special MAGI Income Rules

• Clarified that MASST income is countable income for MAGI Medicaid.

5720-3 Reasonable Compatibility

• Clarified what reasonable compatibility means and provided examples.

5735 Hospital Presumptive Eligibility Determinations

• Changed references from PE to HPE for consistency.