2. Child Care Program - The monthly gross income amounts will be updated on the Child Care Family Income and Share Schedule to reflect changes in the new federal poverty guidelines. KsCares will be updated after 5:00 pm on April 14, 2000 with the changes effective May 1, 2000. The changes will not affect Family Shares already attached to existing child care plans on CHCP. In order to have the Family Share recalculated in INEL with the new income levels, it will be necessary to press PF12 on INEL (it is not necessary to change any of the income on INEL first). Changes to existing child care plans will be implemented at the next review unless requested earlier. Any cases processed on or after May 1, 2000 will use the new Family Share table with the new income levels. This includes new plans with an effective date prior to May 1, 2000 if initial eligibility is completed on or after May 1, 2000. Since there will be no mass change to child care plans, no mass notice is necessary.

KEESM 1212.2 RESPONSIBILITY TO SUPPLY INFORMATION AND THE REVISED ES-3100 (5-00)

The change in policy described in this section for food stamps is only effective when the 5-00 revision of the application form is used. Supplies of the new form will not be available until mid to late summer. This change primarily affects Quality Assurance reviews. An example will help to illustrate the impact of this change:

A household applies for food stamps using the newly revised 5-00 ES-3100. The household does not report on the application form that they have a dependent care deduction so one is not allowed. The case is later reviewed by QA and at the time of the home review, the client reports that she has a dependent care deduction and has had one since she first applied. Since the client was notified when she completed the application that failure to report a deductible expense means that it will not be allowed, QA will also not allow the deduction when determining if the household was issued the correct amount of benefits. Prior to this change, QA would have allowed the dependent care deduction (even though it was not reported) and a benefit error for this element would have resulted.

This change in policy does NOT make any changes to the policies outlined in Policy Memo 99-10-11 and is not intended to make changes in what is currently mandated to be reported and verified per KEESM 1322 and 9210 and 9310.

KEESM 2150 - RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE

Effective May 1, individuals residing in the state for purposes of work may be considered residents of the state for purposes of providing medical assistance. This includes migrant workers who are living in the state for a period of time to work or seek work. Residency may be established for the individual and any family members living with the migrant worker. Migrant workers include both farm laborers such as fruit pickers and custom cutters as well as construction workers.

It is recognized that these individuals may face certain barriers in obtaining employment and wage verification to determine eligibility. Therefore, it is important to note the flexibility allowed under current policy in terms of these issues. Because of the transitory nature of employment, it may be difficult to obtain typical income verification. An individual may have a number of different employers in a short period of time and some employers do not routinely provide income verification for the employee. To assist with some of these issues, we recommend that staff from several community agencies which receive state and local funds be called upon to assist in resolving such issues as well as gather necessary documentation. Collateral statements may be obtained from employees of these agencies regarding employer practices, such as a confirmation that a particular employer will not issue wage verification. They may also assist the individual in obtaining needed information.  A release of information will usually be required in these instances.  These agencies include the Kansas Statewide Farmworker Health Program, Migrant Education Programs, State Funded Community Based Clinics, Community Action Programs and Federally Funded Community Health Centers.  Local school districts (school nurses) may also be able to assist. A partial list of local contacts is enclosed with this material. Staff with the Kansas Statewide Farmwoker Health Program can provide EES staff a locan onctact as well.  Staff with the Kansas Statewide Farmworker Health Program can provide EES staff a local contact as well.  Although staff with these agencies cannot verify income, they may be helpful in assisting with the application process.

It is also recognized that some individuals who now meet the residency requirements may be residing or working in the country illegally. Although the citizenship criteria of KEESM 2140 continues to apply to all applicants of medical assistance (except for emergency services as per KEESM 2691), the employee may be a legally responsible person of a citizen applicant. A correspondence originally issued by Dennis Priest on 12-13-95 addresses the issues associated with individuals employed illegally and provides instructions for working with such situations. As noted in the original Memorandum, this policy does not condone illegal activities but allows a means to count income that may otherwise go unreported. The information contained in that Memorandum is planned to be reissued in a formal Policy Memo after release of this material. However, because of the immediate need for the information certain key points from that original document are noted below.

1. An individual working in the country illegally may be using a false name and/or a false social security number. If the individual provides a signed, written statement that acknowledges the use of the false identification, wage verification provided with the false information shall be accepted as the individual’s. Other information supporting the use of the alias, such as a drivers license, shall be copied for the case file.
   
   
2. If the employer must be contacted concerning the wages, only the alien’s assumed name shall be used for such purposes.
   
   
3. Payments in cash are generally considered to be illegally obtained income. If cash income is reported and the individual is unable to provide other verification, a written statement explaining the source and amount of the income shall be considered acceptable income verification.
   
   
4. Under no circumstances should the individual’s immigration status be divulged to the employer nor should the immigration status of an individual applying for Medicaid and/or HealthWave be reported to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Back to Top

KEESM 2510 - CATEGORICALLY ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLDS

Categorical eligibility for food stamps is being expanded as a result of a USDA initiative to better serve low income families and to better ensure adequate nutrition by allowing working families to own a reliable car and continue to get food stamp benefits. To assist staff in implementing these changes, training will be provided on this policy change. A self-directed training module will be available to staff on the SRS Intranet. Written material and instructions for the self-directed training will be distributed separately. This training material will have numerous examples to help explain this policy change and how to implement it in the field.

Plans are also underway to expand the message on FSRD when a food stamp case fails for excess resources. The message would be expanded to include an instruction to "check for categorical eligibility for FS". More details on this system change will be forwarded when finalized.

NOTE:  Receipt of support services in applicant status does not qualify a household for categorical food stamp eligibility.

KEESM 3230 - ADDITIONAL FOOD STAMP WORK RELATED EXEMPTIONS

The self-directed training module mentioned above will also include training material on the FS change in work exemptions that an FS parent or other caretaker personally providing care for a child under the age of six is exempt from FS work requirements. Food stamp recipients that become exempt from work-related requirements as a result of this change shall have the JOPR code changed at the time of the next review. Those affected in an FS E&T county shall be allowed to finish the current component assignment but shall not be assigned to any further components. JOPR coding should be changed at the time of the completion of the component. Persons who fail to comply on or after May 1 that are not receiving TAF shall not be penalized on food stamps.

In addition, the age alert will be changed from age 1 to age 6 on food stamps effective May 1, 2000.

KEESM 3140 -ASSESSMENT

Work program assessments completed on or after May 1, 2000, for TAF and food stamp recipients entering work programs should include the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI). Staff are not required to but may administer the SASSI to TAF and food stamp recipients who are current work program participants and who did not complete the SASSI during assessment.

KEESM 8172 - NF RESERVE DAYS

NF Reserve Days - Effective May 1, 2000, EES staff will no longer be required to approve or disapprove NF Reserve Day requests. Monitoring for correct usage of NF Reserve days will become a fiscal agent responsibility and will be accomplished through post-pay review. Health Care Policy will be issuing an Policy Implementation Memo until the KMSM can be revised.

The MS-2126 Notification of Nursing Facility Admission/Discharge form has been revised and a copy of the new form is attached. Nursing facilities have been instructed via Provider Manual Revision, to begin using the revised form beginning Monday, May 1, 2000. A copy of the revised MS-2126 was sent to the nursing facilities as well.

Upon receiving the new MS-2126, the EES will review Section IV, Hospital Leave Information. If the MS-2126 indicates the client will be out of the facility for less than 10 days, no action is to be taken. If the MS-2126 indicates the client will be out of the facility longer than 10 days, and there is sufficient time to react, the EES should immediately suspend payment to the NF.

The NF is required to send a subsequent MS-2126 when the client has been in the hospital longer than 30 days and indicate the number of days the client is expected to remain hospitalized. Based upon this information, the EES should either take appropriate action to re-determine eligibility or set an alert to follow up at a later date.

In order to allow for smooth transition to the new processes, EES staff should continue to accept previous versions of the MS-2126 through Friday May 5, 2000. Any requests made on the prior version of the MS-2126 during this time period should be approved or denied using the previous policy. Any MS-2126 Rev. 5/00 forms which are received on or after May 1, 2000 do not require EES approval. Effective May 8, 2000, previous versions of the MS-2126 will not be accepted. The form should be returned to the NF with instruction to complete and return the correct form.

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