SR 02-39 Dated 12/02

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This SR releases the procedures for Phase 2 of the centralization of the processing of Healthy Kids Gold-only (HKG-only) cases and/or Medical Coverage for Pregnant Women-only (MCPW-only) cases, and cases that are open for both Healthy Kids Gold and Silver at the New Hampshire Healthy Kids District Office (NHHK DO).

Phase 2 of the centralization will involve the following District Offices:

HKG cases, MCPW cases, and HKG/HKS combination cases that are open for other programs such as cash, food stamps, Foster Care, Child Care, Adoption Subsidies, Refugee Assistance, or any type of medical assistance including In and Out and MEAD, will continue to be processed at the District Office applicable to the client’s place of residence. HK Gold cases managed by the DCYF Fiscal Specialists are not being transferred to the NHHK DO.

BACKGROUND

As was indicated during Phase 1 of the NHHK Centralization process released by SR 02-40 dated November 2002, the centralization of Healthy-Kids was initiated and planned by representatives from the Division of Family Assistance (DFA), Managers of Administration (MOA), Office of Health Planning and Medicaid (OHPM), and NH Healthy Kids (NHHK) to:

·   expedite the processing of applications for the HKG, HKS, and MCPW medical coverage groups;

·   provide a more efficient process for managing HKG, HKS, and MCPW cases;

·   simplify the application process and ability to access information about medical coverage for clients and community partners; and

·   provide one specialized office to facilitate communication with and thereby improve the services, follow-up, and referrals made by statewide community agencies and community partners.

Phase 1 of the centralization process began in November 2002 and involved six District Offices. Phase 2, involving two more District Offices, was initiated to coincide with the start of the new year. Phase 3, anticipated to begin later in the year 2003, will add the balance of the caseload from the four remaining District Offices.

POLICY

Effective December 20, 2002, the NHHK DO will begin processing all Healthy Kids Gold-only cases, Medical Coverage for Pregnant Women-only cases, and cases that are open for both Gold and Silver Healthy Kids medical coverage, from the Berlin District Office.

Effective December 27, 2002, the NHHK DO will begin processing all Healthy Kids Gold-only cases, Medical Coverage for Pregnant Women-only cases, and cases that are open for both Gold and Silver Healthy Kids medical coverage, from the Littleton District Office.

Phase 2 of the Centralization

The internal New HEIGHTS transfer of the electronic HKG-only, MCPW-only, and HKG/HKS combination case records from Berlin and Littleton, the two DOs involved in Phase 2, to the NHHK DO occurred the evening of December 13, 2002. The physical move of paper case records from the DOs involved in the transfer, however, will be December 19, 2002 for the Berlin DO and December 26, 2002 for the Littleton DO.

HKG cases, MCPW cases, or HKG/HKS combination cases from the offices involved in the centralization process that are also open for other DFA cash or medical assistance programs will continue to be processed in the District Office applicable to the client’s place of residence. District Offices not involved in Phase 1 or Phase 2 of the centralization process will continue to process HKG, MCPW, and HKG/HKS combination applications and redeterminations in accordance with current procedures.

PROCEDURES FOR THE DISTRICT OFFICES INVOLVED IN PHASE 2

Transition Schedule

The physical move of the HKG-only, MCPW-only, and HKG/HKS combination caseloads from the two District Offices involved in Phase 2 to the NHHK DO, will proceed as follows:

The responsibility for case management, eligibility, and related service delivery will continue to reside with the office in which the files are maintained until the files are picked up on the move dates specified above.

Preparing Paper Case Files

On Monday December 2, 2002 a list of the cases that would be involved in the transfer was emailed to Berlin and Littleton. Those cases on the list as well as any new cases that arrive through the date of the physical transfer, must be prepared according to the following directions:

·   Place all open active files in one set of boxes.

·   Place all historical files with up to 2 years of history in a second set of boxes to be archived (see archiving instructions below).

·   Place all Healthy Kids Silver files in a third set of boxes.

NOTE: Healthy Kids Gold and Medical Coverage for Pregnant Women case files must be kept separated from Healthy Kids Silver case files until after the move.

·   Place all mail to be worked on and January mail-in redetermination applications in an envelope.

The above boxes must all be labeled "NHHKCORP [DO Number]". For example, if moving records from the Berlin DO write NHHK – D.O. 09 on each box packed. In addition, each box must identify the alpha breakdown that the box contains and be labeled in accordance with the material packaged within, as follows:

·   "Open"

·   "Historical"

NOTE: Historical files with more than 2 years of data must be destroyed according to current procedures prior to the move to the NHHK DO. Historical files with less than 2 years of data must be archived with Northeast Records Retention using archiving barcode labels. Barcode labels are available through Rob Newell.

·   "HKS Records"

All boxes that will be transferred to NHHK DO and all barcoded boxes of historical files to be transferred to Northeast Records Retention will be picked up by Logistics on Thursday, December 19, 2002 in Berlin and Thursday, December 26, 2002 in Littleton.

Client Calls During the Transition

Support staff will continue to handle all client calls to the DOs involved in Phase 2 of the centralization in the same manner as is done now, keeping the following in mind:

Between December 16, 2002 and the physical move of the District Office, New HEIGHTS will display the NHHK DO and caseworker on the case, while the paper files may not be available to the newly assigned FSS until the physical transition has been accomplished.

To ensure timely service to clients who call the Berlin or Littleton DO between December 16, 2002 and the physical move of the DO, support staff must perform an Inquiry on New HEIGHTS to determine the town of residence of the caller and:

·   if the caller is from Berlin or Littleton’s catchment area, assist the caller, if possible, or transfer the caller to the current HKG FSS Specialist or Supervisor in the support staff’s DO; or

·   if the caller is not from Berlin or Littleton’s catchment area, assist the caller, if possible, or refer the caller to the DO applicable to the caller’s place of residence.

Client Mail Received During the Transition

Mail received in Berlin or Littleton DO relating to HKG cases, MCPW cases, HKG/HKS combination cases or pending HKS cases during the period of December 16, 2002 through the date of the DO’s physical move, must be delivered to the current FSS handling the case.

NOTE: December redeterminations must be processed prior to the transfer.

Transferring Client Cases

As of December 13, 2002

·   NHHK will not be transferring out any open HKG-only cases that switched from HKS to HKG during the redetermination process to Berlin or Littleton; and

·   Berlin and Littleton DOs will stop sending records for HKS-only cases to NHHK. These cases will be boxed according to the instructions in the section above entitled "Preparing Paper Case Files."

As of December 16, 2002

·   Open Gold cases for Berlin and Littleton will be electronically and physically transferred to Robin Magee, Acting Administrative Supervisor, NH Healthy Kids Corporation, 25 Hall Street, Suite 300, Concord NH 03301-3477.

·   Gold applications received at the NHHK DO will not be transferred out to Littleton or Berlin for processing.

·   Clients who are currently open at the NHHK DO and who subsequently request additional DFA cash or medical assistance from the Berlin or Littleton DOs, must be transferred from the NHHK DO to the local DO to ensure timely delivery of benefits.

As of December 20, 2002 for Berlin and December 27, 2002 for Littleton

·   All HKG-related, HKG/HKS-related, or MCPW-related mail or applications received in the Berlin or Littleton DOs, must be forwarded via interoffice mail to the NHHK DO within 2 days to ensure timely processing.

NOTE: Perform an Inquiry before mailing new applications to the NHHK DO to ensure that the individual is not open for another program.

IMPLEMENTATION

Responsibility for case management, eligibility, and related service delivery will continue to reside with DFA staff in Berlin and Littleton DOs until the case files are picked up on the move dates specified above. NHHK DO staff will assume responsibility for case management and service delivery for all cases on the day following each of the DO’s move.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

A client mailing notifying the approximately 1,000 individuals affected, will occur in mid-December. The client letter is attached for reference.

TRAINING

The transition procedures were addressed at the Administrative Supervisors’ meeting on December 10, 2002 and at the Managers of Administration meeting on December 11, 2002.

DISPOSITION

This SR may be destroyed or deleted after its contents have been noted and the SR has been posted to the On-line manual.

DISTRIBUTION

This SR will be distributed according to the electronic distribution list for Division of Family Assistance policy releases. This SR will be available for agency staff in the On-Line Manual Library, and for public access on the Internet, at http://www.dhhs.state.nh.us/DHHS/DFA/LIBRARY, effective February 10, 2002.

This SR will be distributed under separate cover to all hard copy holders of the Family Assistance manual.

DFA/JBV:s