Client Alert: Medicaid Updates
Temporary Easing of Medicaid Documentation Requirements
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a cataclysmic event for our nation’s most vulnerable, particularly the elderly. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are on lockdown, and home care patients struggle to find and maintain care as the number of available home health aides has dropped precipitously. New Yorkers who rely on the Medicaid program to finance their home care services face all these same challenges, with the added pressures of limited means.
In order to alleviate some of these pressures on New York’s most vulnerable, on April 2, 2020 the New York State Department of Health issued General Information System (“GIS”) 20 MA/04, directing Departments of Social Services throughout New York State to temporarily accept and process Medicaid applications without submission of much of the paperwork which is normally required. In addition, local Departments have been ordered to automatically recertify eligibility during the COVID crisis and are prohibited from terminating eligibility due to failure to submit documentation. The GIS also addresses social distancing concerns by allowing applications to be signed by a representative of the applicant. Our Elder Law and Special Needs Practice Group can assist you or your loved one to complete the Medicaid application and get necessary care in place during this pandemic. In addition, through the use of video and telephone conferencing, we can maintain social distancing throughout the process and can sign the paperwork as the applicant’s representative.