DHCS issued a letter directing counties to stop terminating cases for specific aged, blind and disabled cases where the beneficiary did not return the Request for Tax Household Information form associated with MAGI rules. Counties will also be reinstating those ABD beneficiaries who were terminated for not returning the RFTHI. In these cases, the county must restore eligibility back to the date of discontinuance, then proceed to complete a 2014 redetermination based on ABD status before going onto a MAGI determination. DHCS ACWDL 15-03 (1/20/15).
Summaries of select CalWORKs, CalFresh, Health and Housing Regulations
Non-COHS Medi-Cal managed care plans must treat medical exemption requests and denials as continuity of care requests
DHCS is directing managed care plans to treat Medical Exemption Requests as automatic requests for continuity of care for those Medi-Cal beneficiaries transitioning into managed care. MCPs must treat every exemption listed in data reports as an automatic continuity of care request. MCPs must attempt to contact beneficiaries via letter and two calls, and must begin processing requests within five days. DHCS All-Plan Letter 15-001 (1/14/15).
Clarification for using personal care services to meet Medi-Cal share of cost
DHCS recently clarified the process for using out-of-pocket expenses from personal care services to meet current or future share of cost amounts. Previously, IHSS needed to assess and approve the need for personal care services, and the out-of-pocket costs of approved hours were used as an income deduction. Since these services are now provided as a Medi-Cal benefit, out-of-pocket costs can now be used to meet share of cost and not income deductions.
These out-of-pocket personal care services must be prescribed by a healthcare professional. The services need not be assessed by IHSS or provided by an IHSS provider, and they may exceed the maximum assessed IHSS hours as long as the need for hours has been documented.
The letter provides answers to frequently asked questions about using these out-of-pocket expenses toward the Medi-Cal share of cost. DHCS ACWDL 15-02 (1/12/15).
New required language in CalWORKs notices related to failure to provide proof of eligibility
Upon request, or upon notice that a person requires accommodation due to a disability, counties must assist CalWORKs applicants and recipients to obtain required benefit eligibility evidence if the applicant’s or recipient’s good faith efforts to obtain the evidence have failed. CDSS has directed counties to revise 17 notices of action that deny, discontinue or decrease benefits due to failure to provide required verification to specify that the client did not ask the county for help getting the required proof of evidence of eligibility. CDSS also directs the counties to rescind any negative actions on CalWORKs cases wherein the applicant or recipient asked the county for help, but did not receive help. ACL 14-88 (11/20/14)
Required hard-copy documentation for IHSS inter-county transfers
Resolving what must have been a heated dispute between various counties when processing inter-county transfers of IHSS cases, CDSS has verified that, notwithstanding the fact the form is not listed among required forms in the Manual of Policies and Procedures, the Health Care Certification Form (SOC 873) is indeed required to be provided in hard copy format by the transferring county during an inter-county transfer. ACL 14-86 (12/9/14)
Guidance on transitioning Covered California cases to Medi-Cal
DHCS issued a letter to guide counties on how to handle Covered California cases transitioning to Medi-Cal after Covered California’s annual redetermination process, which will always run at the same time each year. When Covered California determines that a beneficiary may now be income-eligible for Medi-Cal, it will forward the information to the counties for final determination.
Those found eligible, conditionally eligible, or pending eligible are sent to the county for appropriate verification. Eligible cases were granted temporary full-scope Medi-Cal eligibility as of January 1, 2015, and assigned to the same health plan where possible.
DHCS’s letter included talking points on the transition process and sample notices/letters to consumers. DHCS ACWDL 15-01 (1/7/15).