Policy & Program Development

New 2003 Federal Poverty Guidelines
Attached is the new Medical Assistance Standards chart. This chart reflects the 2003 Federal Poverty Guidelines, which increase the financial eligibility standards for the following eligibility categories:

We want to remind you of a new Food Stamp Program policy coming soon. Effective April 1, 2003, qualified aliens who have been in the U.S. at least five years are entitled to food stamps, if otherwise eligible.

MANUAL CHANGE #25 AND REVISED NOTICES

Medical Assistance Manual Change #25 is back from the printers and is being
mailed to all district offices this week. This manual change includes new policies,
manual sections, clarifications, and technical corrections. A summary of changes
is listed in the cover memo with the manual change instructions.

You may have heard reports that some health care providers are refusing to accept Chronic and Acute Medical Assistance (CAMA) coupons because they believe CAMA is out of money. This broadcast is intended to provide you with accurate information so that you can respond to inquiries you may get from a CAMA recipient who has difficulty with a provider reluctant to accept their CAMA coupon.

Congress allowed its authorization for the SLMB Subsidy eligibility category to "sunset" on December 31, 2002. This means that funding for the SLMB Subsidy is exhausted. DMA has been tracking these cases and final payments are being sent to these recipients who have qualified for this category in the past. The SLMB Subsidy category will not be recognized beginning with the benefit month of January 2003.

The following standards are updated for 2003: Family Medicaid 185% Eligibility Test and Need Standards; SSI Payment Standards; Long Term Care Standards. These standards are effective January 1, 2003 and should be used for making eligibility determinations for the benefit month of January.

On November 21st, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that the first 1,200