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Effective: June 1, 2009 |
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02.05ar5 - Hierarchy of Health Care Programs (Archive) |
Archived: June 1, 2011 |
The three primary Minnesota Health Care Programs are MinnesotaCare, Medical Assistance (MA), and General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC). When people submit an application for Minnesota Health Care Program coverage, they may meet the eligibility criteria for more than one of these primary programs.
There may be a hierarchy to consider in determining which health care program is best for each applicant. In addition, applicants may request a specific health care program. The HCAPP allows applicants to choose to apply for all three primary health care programs or for MinnesotaCare only. This is called ”informed choice”. Their choice dictates which of the three primary health care programs should be considered, and in what order. See Informed Choice for more information.
People may be enrolled in only one of the three primary health care programs (MA, GAMC, or MinnesotaCare) at a time, with a few exceptions. For further information, see Programs Overlap.
People who qualify for Medicare may also qualify for the Medicare Savings Programs. See that section of the manual for further information about those programs.
General Assistance Medical Care.
There are five major programs within MinnesotaCare. Each major program has a system code used to identify the correct benefit set for the applicant or enrollee, and whether DHS will receive Federal Financial Participation (FFP). See MinnesotaCare Major Program Eligibility Type (MPET) for more information.
There are several different Medical Assistance (MA) major programs. These major programs also use system codes to identify the correct benefit set and whether DHS will receive FFP.
l Medical Assistance (MA) (major program MA) is funded by both federal and state dollars, and is the Minnesota Health Care Program that provides the most covered services.
l Emergency Medical Assistance (EMA) (major program EH) is funded by both federal and state dollars. However, it is available only for some noncitizens that have a medical emergency, and does not cover all of the services otherwise covered by MA.
l Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA) (major program RM) is funded entirely by federal dollars, and provides up to eight months of MA coverage for some refugees who are otherwise ineligible for MA.
l State-funded Medical Assistance (major program NM) provides all MA-covered services for two groups of people who are not eligible for federally funded MA:
n Some noncitizens who do not meet the immigration status requirements for federally funded MA. They must have an MA basis of eligibility and meet all other MA requirements.
n People who receive services from the Center for Victims of Torture who are not otherwise eligible for MA.
l Some people with an MA basis of eligibility are ineligible for MA when they are admitted to an Institution for Mental Diseases (IMD). These people may be eligible for major program IM, which is a state-funded MA program that does not include nursing home coverage.
General Assistance Medical Care
General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) (major program GM) is funded entirely by state dollars. It provides fewer covered services than MA.
People who have an MA basis of eligibility are not eligible for GAMC.
Consider the following factors when determining the best health care program for an applicant or enrollee:
l Which program will provide the most covered medical services with the minimal amount of cost-sharing or lowest spenddown obligation?
l Will the state of Minnesota receive FFP for the applicant's or enrollee's health care costs under a given program?
l What agency received the application for health care coverage? If an applicant applies for health care on a form that does not contain the informed choice question, county agencies will generally determine eligibility for MA first; MinnesotaCare Operations at DHS will generally determine eligibility for MinnesotaCare first. See Where to Apply for further information. Follow the processing instructions in Informed Choice if the applicant applies for health care on a HCAPP that contains the informed choice question.
l Does the client have a choice between programs or bases of eligibility within one of the primary health care programs? Some people may qualify for more than one MA basis of eligibility (see Multiple Bases of Eligibility for further information).
The usual major program hierarchy for MA and GAMC should be:
1. Medical Assistance (MA).
2. Emergency Medical Assistance (EH).
3. Refugee Medical Assistance (RM).
4. State-funded Medical Assistance (NM, IM).
5. General Assistance Medical Care (GM).
6. Minnesota Family Planning Program (MFPP).
For MinnesotaCare (major programs BB, FF, JJ, KK, LL), no hierarchy is needed. People will fit into only one of the five major programs due to the income and other eligibility criteria.
For more information about the specific eligibility criteria for each program, see Eligibility Groups and Bases of Eligibility.