Medical Assistance for Children Receiving Northstar Kinship Assistance
2.5.6.2 Medical Assistance for Children Receiving Northstar Kinship Assistance (MA-NKA)
Children who receive Minnesota Northstar Kinship Assistance are eligible for Medical Assistance (MA-NKA) without a health care application or financial eligibility requirements.
Children who receive Title IV-E Guardianship Assistance from another state and live in Minnesota are also eligible for MA-NKA without a health care application or financial eligibility requirements.
Children who receive non-Title IV-E Guardianship Assistance from another state and live in Minnesota are not eligible for MA-NKA, but may qualify for MA under other MA-FCA or MA-ABD bases of eligibility if they complete an application and meet program requirements.
Overview of Northstar Kinship Assistance
Northstar Kinship Assistance (NKA) is Minnesota’s Guardianship Assistance Program. NKA supports eligible children in foster care in Minnesota who find permanency with a relative through a transfer of permanent legal and physical custody (TPLPC). A TPLPC to a relative custodian provides a child in out-of-home care with a permanent home when efforts to reunite the child with his or her family have been unsuccessful and permanency through adoption is either not possible or not appropriate.
In addition to receiving MA-NKA without an application or financial eligibility requirements (such as an income limit ), the child receives other benefits under the NKA benefit agreement, including monthly payments and reimbursement for nonrecurring expenses associated with finalizing a TPLPC.
NKA replaced Minnesota’s Relative Custody Assistance (RCA) program on January 1, 2015. NKA will gradually replace RCA as children age out. Children who receive RCA do not qualify for MA-NKA but may qualify for MA under other MA-FCA or MA-ABD bases of eligibility.
This chapter includes the following policies that apply to MA-NKA.
MA-NAA, MA-NKA, and MA-FC Title IV-E and Medicare
MA Referral for Other Benefits
Legal Citations
Code of Federal Regulations, title 42, section 435.145
Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.055
Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 256N