Medicaid Expansion in Federal Health Care Reform
August 20, 2010
“The Gift of the MAGI” is a famous O. Henry short story about a poverty-stricken husband and wife who make personal sacrifices to give each other gifts. MAGI is also the name of the new form of Medicaid budgeting that will be required of all states starting in 2014 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). It stands for Modified Adjusted Gross Income. Read More

Fair Hearing Gets Man Out of Medicaid "Pickle"
August 19, 2010
Congratulations to John Castellano of the Mercy Advocacy Program. He won an important fair hearing decision which established Medicaid eligibility under “Pickle” criteria for a recipient of retroactive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits. The individual was prospectively eligible for SSD only. “Pickle eligible” individuals are SSD recipients who would otherwise be subject to a Medicaid spenddown but for the application of a special budgeting methodology known as the “Pickle” rule, this allows them to become fully eligible for Medicaid. Read More

Empire Justice and Legal Aid's Comments on use of Medicaid Health Information Technology Funds
May 28, 2010
Comments to the Department of Health on the planning, design and implementation of Medicaid Health Information Technology incentive funds under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Read More

Financial maintenance requirements at application and renewal
May 5, 2010
The NYS Department of Health has introduced a standardized methodology by which local social services districts and facilitated enrollers (FEs) should assess how certain Medicaid/Family Health Plus applicants and recipients are meeting their living expenses. Read More

Comments on the Electronic Health Record Incentive Program
March 15, 2010
These comments on the rules CMS has proposed for the EHR incentive program were submitted jointly by the Empire Justice Center and the Legal Aid Society in New York City. Read More

Access for People with Disabilities
February 2, 2010
People with disabilities may confront additional barriers to accessing health care. Barriers to enrolling in public health care programs like Medicaid, Family Health Plus and Child Health Plus include transportation issues, physical access issues, and failures on the part of local districts to provide alternative print formats and/or translation and interpreter services. Read More

Financial maintenance requirements at application and renewal
May 5, 2010
The NYS Department of Health has introduced a standardized methodology by which local social services districts and facilitated enrollers (FEs) should assess how certain Medicaid/Family Health Plus applicants and recipients are meeting their living expenses. Read More

Federal Health Care Reform: Impact on NYS Medicaid
January 4, 2010
This outline analyzes selected public health provisions in the House and Senate health care reform proposals and their impact on NYS Medicaid. The outline was prepared for the January, 2010 annual meeting of the NYSBA's Health Law Committee. Read More

Federal Settlement Expands Access to Medicaid
Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance and Nursing Services
August 1, 2008
On June 12, 2008, the Protection and Advocacy for persons with Developmental Disabilities (PADD) program at Nassau/Suffolk Law Services (NSLS) obtained a federal court settlement that will expand access to two Medicaid home care programs in New York State – the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program and the Private Duty Nursing program. Read More

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Public Health Insurance
January 29, 2010
TPS is a temporary immigration status granted to eligible individuals of a certain country designated by the Department of Homeland Security because serious temporary conditions in that country, such as armed conflict or environmental disaster, prevents people from that country to return safely. On January 21, 2010 the United States determined that individuals from Haiti warranted TPS because of the devastating earthquake that occurred there on January 12. Read More

Haitian TPS and Medical Assistance Eligibility
January 28, 2010
Haitian applicants for Temporary Protected Status will be eligible for New York's publicly funded medical assistance program if they meet all other financial and non-financial eligibility requirements. Read More

Public Health Insurance News
December 1, 2008
Continued expansion of Mandatory Medicaid Managed Care, expansion of Mandatory Managed Care to Persons with HIV/AIDS, Prescription Medicaid "carve-out" for Family Health participants, passage of Federal Medicare Legislation. Read More

Medicaid Managed Care Expanded
July 1, 2008
Mandatory Medicaid Managed Care is creeping upstate. Advocates will recall from previous articles in this newsletter that SSI beneficiaries are no longer exempt from mandatory managed care. SSI recipients will be required to enroll in a managed care plan, rather then receiving their health case on a fee-for-service basis. Read More

Tool Kit for Community Health Centers: Helping Patients Access Medicaid
January 19, 2010
This tool kit provides fact sheets and forms on ten different topics related to helping patients access Medicaid coverage or other help with paying for health care services. Read More