SR 07-17 Dated 09/07

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This SR releases a change in the verification requirements for documenting the incapacity of a parent requesting TANF financial or medical assistance. Applicants and recipients of TANF financial or medical assistance who use Form 921, Determination of Incapacity Status, to verify deprivation due to incapacity, must provide a completed Form 921 containing conclusive documentation from a physician or psychologist certifying incapacity of at least 30 continuous days.

POLICY

Applicants and recipients of TANF financial or medical assistance who use Form 921, Determination of Incapacity Status, to verify deprivation due to incapacity, must provide a completed Form 921 containing conclusive documentation from a physician or psychologist certifying incapacity of at least 30 consecutive days.

To be considered conclusive documentation, a physician or psychologist must certify on the Form 921:

·   that the incapacity has existed, or is expected to exist, for at least 30 days;

·   the date when the incapacity began, ended, or is expected to end;

·   the diagnosis, examination date, and current and recommended medical treatment; and

·   the name, address, phone number, specialty, and dated signature of the physician or psychologist.

Per policy, verification of incapacity must occur:

·   at the initial eligibility determination;

·   at each subsequent redetermination; and

·   whenever a change in the incapacity occurs.

An incomplete or inconclusive Form 921 will result in the denial or termination of TANF financial or medical assistance due to parental incapacity.

Note: Based on this new policy, there is no need to forward an incomplete or inconclusive Form 921 to OMBP for determination of incapacity.

RELATED POLICY CLARIFICATION

The Form 921 has always allowed for the option of retroactive TANF Incapacity Medical Assistance through the following language printed on the form:

To qualify, the applicant must be physically or mentally incapacitated to the extent that his/her ability to support or care for his/her children is substantially reduced, and the incapacity is expected to last for a period of at least 30 days from the date of application for assistance or lasted at least 30 days in the 90 day period prior to the application date.

However, policy did not contain this information. As such, FAM 209.11, Incapacity: 30-Day Incapacity Requirement, has been updated to clearly indicate that to qualify for retroactive Medical Assistance due to incapacity, the incapacity of the applicant must have lasted for at least 30 days in the 90 day period prior to the application date.

NEW HEIGHTS CHANGES

Because OMBP/DDU are no longer involved in medical determinations for TANF incapacity, the following will be eliminated at a later date from the "Non-Financial" function in New HEIGHTS:

§   the "Medical Review Approval" radio button on the "Incapacity Information" tab on the "Incapacity" screen; and

§   the entire "Medical Determination" tab on the "Incapacity" screen.

These changes will be released under separate cover once they have been removed.

POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS

Revised Family Assistance Manual Topics

Section 209.11   Incapacity: 30-Day Incapacity Requirement

Section 209.13   Incapacity: Case Tech Determines Incapacity

Section 209.37   Verification of Deprivation

IMPLEMENTATION

Changes identified in this SR are effective September 1, 2007 for all new applicants and at the next redetermination for all current recipients.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

A public hearing was held on July 6, 2007 to discuss the changes released in this SR. No additional client notification is planned.

TRAINING

No training is planned or needed.

DISPOSITION

This SR may be destroyed or deleted after its contents have been noted and the revised manual topics released by this SR have been posted to the On-line manuals.

DISTRIBUTION

This SR will be distributed according to the electronic distribution list for Division of Family Assistance policy releases. This SR, and revised On-Line Manuals, will be available for agency staff in the On-Line Manual Library, and for public access on the Internet at http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/DHHS/DFA/LIBRARY, effective October 1, 2007.

This SR, and printed pages with posting instructions, will be distributed under separate cover to all hard copy holders of the Family Assistance Manual.

DFA/KD:s