Making the Connection Updates

STATE BENEFIT UPDATES (2008 - 2009)

July 6, 2009
STATE POLICY CHANGE: FAMILY CARE COVERAGE FOR ADULTS

June 1, 2009
STATE POLICY CHANGE: CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAM CERTIFICATION

October 30, 2008
PAY-IN SPENDDOWN

October 9, 2008
TANF GRANT INCREASE

April 29, 2008
TAX RETURNS AND ECONOMIC STIMULUS BENEFITS

April 23, 2008
STOPPING NEW APPROVALS OF FAMILY CARE BENEFITS FOR ADULTS WITH INCOMES OVER 133% OF FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL (FAMILY CARE EXPANSION)

April 11, 2008
FS SANCTIONS FOR PERSONS WHO RECEIVE TANF

STATE BENEFIT UPDATES (2006-2007)

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July 6, 2009
STATE POLICY CHANGE: FAMILY CARE COVERAGE FOR ADULTS

(See pdf document)

Parents and caretaker relatives caring for dependent children are now able to receive Family Care when the family income is at or below 185% of the Federal Poverty Level (previously, coverage for the adult was only available up to 133% of the FPL).

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June 1, 2009
STATE POLICY CHANGE: CHILD NUTRITION
PROGRAM CERTIFICATION

(See pdf document)

The way the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) certifies eligibility for Federal Child Nutrition Program (CNP) administered by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is changing. For the upcoming 2009 - 2010 school year, IDHS will no longer send the family a certification letter. Instead, children whose names are matched in an electronic file will be directly certified for CNP benefits and will not have to turn in a certification letter or complete a paper application for those program benefits. This change will hopefully simplify the CNP application process and increase CNP participation.

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October 30, 2008
PAY-IN SPENDDOWN

Summary: Pay-In Spenddown

• Effective November 2008, persons who are Aged, Blind or Disabled and are enrolled in the AABD Community spenddown will have a new way to meet their monthly spenddown.
  
  
• On or about October 20, 2008, IDHS clients will be sent letters telling them about the option of paying the amount of their monthly income and asset spenddown to meet their spenddown, similar to how a medical insurance premium is paid.
  
  
• The letter sent will give the person the option to enroll in this new program.
  
  
• Clients who decide to enroll in Pay-in Spenddown will receive a monthly statement which must be returned with their payment to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS), Bureau of Fiscal Operations (BFO). The central Pay-in Spenddown Unit will enroll individuals in Pay-in Spenddown, and will record payments made in the IDHS computer system
  
  
• Pay-in spenddown cases will continue to be managed by the local IDHS FCRC for all activities other than Pay-in Spenddown. So changes in income, address or other changes will still need to be reported to the local IDHS office.
  
  
• FCRCs will still continue to be responsible for meeting spenddown with bills and receipts that have been sent by the client to the IDHS office. Pay-in spenddown clients may decide from month to month whether to meet spenddown by submitting incurred or paid medical expenses to the FCRC, submitting payments to HFS or a combination of both. Receipts and bills will be used to meet the spenddown before Pay-in payments are used to meet spenddown.
  
  
• In certain circumstances clients may be entitled to refunds of payments made. HFS will implement a process to identify clients who are entitled to Pay-in refunds and issue refunds

Benefits of Pay-in Spenddown

• This new option will help persons who know that they need a medical card for a particular month. The individual will be able to pay ahead of time to be sure to receive the card by the beginning of that month.
  
  
• There is more flexibility in choosing the months for which someone wants to receive a medical card.
  
  
• For those who choose to use only the pay-in option, they do not have to keep track of bills and receipts to take or send them to the IDHS caseworker and wait for the worker to complete the work.
  

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October 9, 2008
TANF GRANT INCREASE

The state has just announced that TANF grant amount has increased. Go to http://www.dhs.state.il.us/OneNetLibrary/5/documents/Cash%20Food%20Stamp%20Medical%20Manual/WAG%2025-03-02%20(R-11-01-08).pdf to access the new charts. The increase is retroactive to July, so individuals who received TANF in any of those months will be notified of the increase, and the amount of back benefits that will be sent to them. For example a family of 2 in on TANF in DuPage County is seeing the check increase from $292 a month to $318.

The charts have different TANF amounts based on where you live. The state organizes the counties into three different groups. At the top of each chart you will see the words: Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3. Following is the list of counties in each group:

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April 29, 2008
TAX RETURNS AND ECONOMIC STIMULUS BENEFITS

Many of our clients have received or will receive income tax returns as well as the new Economic Stimulus Benefit. It is important to know that the type of benefit received can affect TANF, Medicaid and Food Stamp benefits.

Tax Returns

Source: PM 07-01-11 (TANF); PM 07-02-13 (AABD); PM 07-03-07 (GA); PM 07-04-16 (FS)

IDHS considers the regular income tax refund as a nonexempt asset for all programs. When a client reports receipt of a tax refund the caseworker is to:

• Verify the refund amount, by viewing the tax refund check or the client's Federal Tax Return.
  
  
• Determine how much of the tax return is an EITC and how much is the actual tax refund
  
  
• Add the tax refund portion to other nonexempt assets, and compare the total to the asset limit*.

When your client files a joint return with an absent spouse, ½ of the return is to be counted unless the client reports that less than half is received. If the client reports that she receives less than half of a joint income tax refund, IDHS is to accept their statement as to the amount received.

EITC (State and Federal)

Source: State policy manual chapters PM 08-01-01-g (TANF); PM 08-03-01-c (GA); PM 08-04-01-a (FS); PM 08-04-04-v (FS)

The Earned Income Tax Credit is exempt as both an asset and as income. The IDHS caseworker is not to use this portion of the tax refund to determine eligibility for cash, food or medical benefits.

Economic Stimulus

Source: Economic Stimulus Memo 4/25/08

• Starting in April 2008, the U.S. Treasury is sending economic stimulus payments to eligible persons who filed a 2007 tax return.
  
  
• Economic stimulus payments are exempt income for Food Stamps and all cash and medical programs.
  
  
• Economic stimulus payments are exempt as an asset in the month of receipt and for two months following the month of receipt for cash and Food Stamps, and medical programs for which assets are counted. Any amount remaining after this period will be counted included with the client's other assets and applied to the *.

Q and A (adapted from the State memo dated 4/25/08):

• How is the payment counted if direct deposited into an account?
  
  
  • The caseworker reduces the value of the account for three months starting with the month of receipt. For all programs where assets are counted (Food Stamps, Medicaid due to age, blind or disabled), the caseworker counts any remaining balance as an asset in the fourth month.
    
    
• Is IDHS staff required to verify economic stimulus payments?
  
  
  • An economic stimulus payment does not need to be verified unless it becomes an asset that affects eligibility.
    
    
• How can the economic stimulus payment be verified?
  • IRS is sending a notice confirming their eligibility for the payment, the payment amount, and the approximate time table for the payment. This notice can be used.
    
    
• What will happen if the stimulus benefit is transferred (this applies to Long Term Care residents only)?
  
  
  • Economic stimulus payments given away during the three-month period in which they are not counted as income or assets are not subject to a transfer penalty. Payments given away after the three-month exempt period are subject to penalty.
    
    
• What about estate recoveries?
  
  
  • If the economic stimulus payment becomes part of a person's estate during the three-month exempt period, it would not be subject to recovery. If it becomes part of the estate after the three-month exempt period, it would be subject to recovery.
  
  

• All Kids- does not apply
  
  
• TANF/Medicaid (Aged, Blind or Disabled): one person - $2000; 2 persons - $3000; and 3 or more persons - $3000 for the first 2 people, plus $50 for each additional person.
  
  
• Food Stamps: $3,000 for an FS unit with at least one person who is a qualifying member (see PM 05-06-01); or $2,000 for all other FS units.
  

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April 23, 2008
STOPPING NEW APPROVALS OF FAMILY CARE BENEFITS FOR ADULTS WITH INCOMES OVER 133% OF FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL (FAMILY CARE EXPANSION)

State IDHS (FCRC) staff has just received instructions that effective immediately they are to no longer approve Family Care medical benefits for non-pregnant adults with incomes greater than 133% of FPL.

This change affects adults who would previously been approved for Family Care Share and Family Care Premiums 1-3.

Children are still going to be approved for All Kids Share, and Premiums 1-8. Pregnant woman with incomes at or below 200% of FPL will still have eligibility determined for Moms and Babies.

Further Information

A short time ago Family Care Expansion had expanded health care coverage to eligible adults with incomes between 133% and 400% of FPL. Additionally, Family Care Share provided health coverage to adults with incomes between 133% and 150% of FPL.

Effective immediately these programs are no longer available. There is no information available at this time about what will happen to adults that had been previously authorized health care using the expanded income criteria.

When a family applies for Family Care or All Kids for children and adults, state staff will review the family income. If the income is over 133% of the FPL, the state worker will now approve the children for the correct All Kids medical program but will deny the adults medical coverage. The state will send a letter telling the adults that medical coverage is denied. The letter sent to the adults will contain the message:

"Your income is above the limit for medical benefits after applying your medical expenses. The adult(s) in your family are not eligible for All Kids/FamilyCare Share or All Kids/FamilyCare Premium because your income is above the limit."

Questions from Families Regarding FamilyCare

Since these changes are likely to prompt inquiries from families regarding the FamilyCare program, families who have questions are to call the Health Benefits and All Kids Hotline at 1-800-226-0768.

Family Health Plan Spenddown cases

The state policy release about this change does not contain any information about the impact that this will have on state staff determining eligibility for a Family Health Spenddown program. I am presuming that if the need still exists for this benefit program, your client should ask the IDHS worker to assess spenddown eligibility.

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April 11, 2008
FS SANCTIONS FOR PERSONS WHO RECEIVE TANF

Summary of New Rule: On April 15, 2008, individuals who receive TANF will be sent a letter telling them that Food Stamp benefits can be stopped (SANCTIONED) for a full 3 months due to failure to comply with the TANF work and training requirement. Once this sanction is imposed the benefit will not restart until the full 3 month sanction period is served, even if the person agrees to cooperate.

POLICY EXPLANATION
Current state policy requires that when a person does not cooperate with the TANF work and training requirement:

• TANF benefits are to be reduced or stopped through the sanction process.
  
  
  • The first time the person does not cooperate, the TANF benefits are reduced by 50% for 3 months and if the client agrees to cooperate the TANF check will be restored,
    
    
  • the second time the TANF benefit is reduced by 50% for 3 months after which the benefit will be restored if the client cooperates and
    
    
  • the third time the TANF benefit is fully (100%) stopped for a full 3 months even if the client contacts the worker and agrees to cooperate.

  
  NOTE: During the time of the sanction, the FS and medical coverage continued, UP UNTIL NOW

• New Policy: EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, When a TANF case is sanctioned due to noncompliance with a work and training requirement, the person who did not cooperate and caused the sanction will NOW also be disqualified from receiving FS benefits for 3-months. The FS sanction period does not end early if the person complies before the sanction ends.
  
  
  • The one exception to this policy is if the adult cares for a child under 6. In this circumstance the adult is exempt from the requirement

• RIGHT TO APPEAL: Remember clients have the right to appeal state actions to reduce or stop benefits. If the appeal is filed within 10 days of the notice telling them of the change, your client also has the right to request that benefits continue with no change during the appeal process. Your client has a right to file an appeal if she does not agree with the state's decision to reduce her TANF or Food Stamps. Remember if the client loses the appeal, she may be responsible for repaying any overpayment received.

Example: Emily and her child D, age 6, receive TANF and FS. Emily is assigned to Work First, but will not cooperate with the activity requirements. Her TANF case is sanctioned at Level 1 (March, April, May). Because Emily is sanctioned for TANF, she is also sanctioned for FS for 3-months. Emily agrees to cooperate with her TANF requirement in April and her cash benefits are restored. The FS sanction continues through the end of May. Emily is eligible to receive food stamps effective June.

NOTE: As you can tell from this new policy, families will now be further challenged by the work and training rules. It is essential that you and your client keep the lines of communication open with the IDHS caseworker, and if unable to cooperate with work and training due to a good cause reason (health, homeless, transportation or lack of child care), that the state worker is immediately informed. See state policy chapter PM 03-13-03-a for further Good Cause Reasons.

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