SF 1171

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 02/14/2019 02:46pm

A bill for an act
relating to health care; requiring residency verification after 90 days from
enrollment; specifying that enrollees who are absent from the state be under the
fee-for-service payment system; establishing an asset requirement for single adults
without dependent children upon renewal; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018,
section 256B.056, subdivisions 1, 3, 7a.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 256B.056, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Residency.

new text begin (a) new text end To be eligible for medical assistance, a person must reside
in Minnesota, or, if absent from the state, be deemed to be a resident of Minnesota, in
accordance with Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, section 435.403.

new text begin (b) After 90 days following initial enrollment, the commissioner shall determine whether
the person is physically present and residing in Minnesota.
new text end

new text begin (c) If a person is absent from the state for more than 30 days but still deemed a resident
of Minnesota, any covered service provided to the person must be paid through the
fee-for-service system and not through the managed care capitated rate payment system
under section 256B.69 or 256L.12.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 256B.056, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Asset limitations for certain individuals.

(a) To be eligible for medical
assistance, a person must not individually own more than $3,000 in assets, or if a member
of a household with two family members, husband and wife, or parent and child, the
household must not own more than $6,000 in assets, plus $200 for each additional legal
dependent. In addition to these maximum amounts, an eligible individual or family may
accrue interest on these amounts, but they must be reduced to the maximum at the time of
an eligibility redetermination. The accumulation of the clothing and personal needs allowance
according to section 256B.35 must also be reduced to the maximum at the time of the
eligibility redetermination. The value of assets that are not considered in determining
eligibility for medical assistance is the value of those assets excluded under the Supplemental
Security Income program for aged, blind, and disabled persons, with the following
exceptions:

(1) household goods and personal effects are not considered;

(2) capital and operating assets of a trade or business that the local agency determines
are necessary to the person's ability to earn an income are not considered;

(3) motor vehicles are excluded to the same extent excluded by the Supplemental Security
Income program;

(4) assets designated as burial expenses are excluded to the same extent excluded by the
Supplemental Security Income program. Burial expenses funded by annuity contracts or
life insurance policies must irrevocably designate the individual's estate as contingent
beneficiary to the extent proceeds are not used for payment of selected burial expenses;

(5) for a person who no longer qualifies as an employed person with a disability due to
loss of earnings, assets allowed while eligible for medical assistance under section 256B.057,
subdivision 9, are not considered for 12 months, beginning with the first month of ineligibility
as an employed person with a disability, to the extent that the person's total assets remain
within the allowed limits of section 256B.057, subdivision 9, paragraph (d);

(6) when a person enrolled in medical assistance under section 256B.057, subdivision
9, is age 65 or older and has been enrolled during each of the 24 consecutive months before
the person's 65th birthday, the assets owned by the person and the person's spouse must be
disregarded, up to the limits of section 256B.057, subdivision 9, paragraph (d), when
determining eligibility for medical assistance under section 256B.055, subdivision 7. The
income of a spouse of a person enrolled in medical assistance under section 256B.057,
subdivision 9, during each of the 24 consecutive months before the person's 65th birthday
must be disregarded when determining eligibility for medical assistance under section
256B.055, subdivision 7. Persons eligible under this clause are not subject to the provisions
in section 256B.059; and

(7) effective July 1, 2009, certain assets owned by American Indians are excluded as
required by section 5006 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public
Law 111-5. For purposes of this clause, an American Indian is any person who meets the
definition of Indian according to Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, section 447.50.

(b) new text begin Upon initial enrollment, new text end no asset limit shall apply to persons eligible under section
256B.055, subdivision 15. new text begin Upon renewal, a person eligible under section 256B.055,
subdivision 15, must not own either individually or as a member of a household more than
$1,000,000 in assets to continue to be eligible for medical assistance.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 256B.056, subdivision 7a, is amended to read:

Subd. 7a.

Periodic renewal of eligibility.

(a) The commissioner shall make an annual
redetermination of eligibility based on information contained in the enrollee's case file and
other information available to the agency, including but not limited to information accessed
through an electronic database, without requiring the enrollee to submit any information
when sufficient data is available for the agency to renew eligibility.

(b) If the commissioner cannot renew eligibility in accordance with paragraph (a), the
commissioner must provide the enrollee with a prepopulated renewal form containing
eligibility information available to the agency and permit the enrollee to submit the form
with any corrections or additional information to the agency and sign the renewal form via
any of the modes of submission specified in section 256B.04, subdivision 18.

(c) An enrollee who is terminated for failure to complete the renewal process may
subsequently submit the renewal form and required information within four months after
the date of termination and have coverage reinstated without a lapse, if otherwise eligible
under this chapter. new text begin The local agency may close the enrollee's case file if the required
information is not submitted within four months of termination.
new text end

(d) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), individuals eligible under subdivision 5 shall be
required to renew eligibility every six months.