Monday, December 6, 2010
ND Medicaid 1619(b) Threshold for 2011
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Services Covered by North Dakota Medicaid
Medicaid covers a specific list of medical services. Some covered services have limitations or restrictions. It is a recipient's responsibility to ask a medical provider whether a particular service being provided is covered by Medicaid. Do not assume that all of the medical services you receive are covered and paid by Medicaid. Non-covered medical services are the recipient's responsibility. The services listed below are a general listing, some covered services have limitations or restrictions.
Hospital
Inpatient: Covers room and board, regular nursing services, supplies and equipment, operating and delivery room, X-rays, lab and therapy.
Outpatient: Covers emergency room services and supplies, lab, X-ray, therapies, drugs and biologicals, and outpatient surgery.
Nursing Facility
Covers room and board, nursing care, therapies, general medical supplies, wheelchairs, and durable medical equipment.
Clinics, Rural Health Clinics
Covers outpatient medical services and supplies furnished under the direction of a doctor.
Hospice
Provides health care and support services to terminally ill individuals and their families.
Physicians
Covers medical and surgical services performed by a doctor; supplies and drugs given at the doctor's office; and X-rays and laboratory tests needed for diagnosis and treatment.
Prescription Drugs
Covers a wide range of, but not all, prescription drugs, insulin, family planning prescriptions, supplies, and devices. Requires a prescription from a doctor. Pharmacists can tell you if a particular drug is covered by Medicaid.
Chiropractor
Covers X-rays and manual manipulation of the spine for certain diagnosis.
Health Tracks (EPDST)
Covers screening and diagnostic services to determine physical and mental status, and treatment to correct or eliminate defects or chronic conditions and help prevent health problems from occurring for children under 21. Also covers orthodontia and vaccinations.
Home Health
Covers nursing care, therapy and medical supplies when provided in a recipient's home. Care must be ordered by a physician and provided by a home health agency.
Durable Medical Equipment and Supplies
Covers medical supplies such as oxygen and catheters and reusable equipment that is primarily medical in nature. Items must be medically necessary and do not include exercise equipment, personal comfort or environmental control equipment.
Dental
Covers exams, X-rays, cleaning, fillings, surgery, extractions, crowns, root canals, dentures (partial and full) and anesthesia.
Family Planning
Covers diagnosis and treatment, drugs, supplies, devices, procedures and counseling for persons of child bearing age.
Sterilization
Covers sterilization procedures if: (1) The recipient is at least 21 years old; (2) The recipient is legally competent; (3) The recipient signs an informed consent form; and (4) At least 30 days but not more than 180 days have passed between the signing of the consent form and the sterilization.
Podiatry
Covers office visits, supplies, X-rays, glucose and culture checks, and surgery procedures.
Mental Health
Covers psychiatric and psychological evaluations, inpatient services in a psychiatric unit of a hospital, individual-group-family psychotherapy, partial hospitalization services, and inpatient psychiatric and residential treatment centers services for individuals under 21 for the care and treatment of metal illness or disorders.
Ambulance
Covers ground and air ambulance trips, attendant, oxygen, and mileage when medically necessary to transport a recipient to the closest health care facility meeting his needs. House Bill 1282 permits ambulance personnel to refuse transport to an individual where medical necessity cannot be demonstrated and recommend an alternative course of action for the individual. If the ambulance was not medically necessary, Medicaid will not pay for the service.
Transportation
Covers non-emergency transportation services to and from the recipient's home to the closest medical provider capable of providing a medically necessary examination or treatment.
Vision
Covers exam, glasses, frames and some hard contact lenses for the correction of certain conditions. Replacement eyeglasses may only be provided after a minimum of 12 months for children under 21 or 36 months for adults if a lens change is medically necessary. An exception to the replacement limitation may be made if new eyeglasses are required for a significant change in correction and the eyeglasses are prior approved. Lost or broken glasses for individuals over 21 will not be replaced within the first three years.
Therapies
Covers physical and occupational therapy and speech and language pathology.
Waivered Services - Home and Community Based Services, Traumatic Brain Injury
Provides personal care and other services not otherwise covered under the Medicaid program to individuals who are at risk of institutionalization in a nursing facility.
Out-of-State Services
Medically necessary covered services may be provided outside of North Dakota if the services are not available within North Dakota and have been prior approved by the department or if the services are provided in an emergency situation.
Source: Website of the North Dakota Department of Human Services at http://www.nd.gov/dhs/services/medicalserv/medicaid/covered.html.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Health Care Reform - Changes in Law

Wednesday, June 16, 2010
A FREE WISE WEBINAR HIGHLIGHTING SUPPORTS AND SERVICES FOR TICKET HOLDERS WITH MENTAL HEALTH DISABILITIES
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Legislative/Policy News

Monday, April 12, 2010
Bill Proposed to Raise SSI Asset Limit

In general, eligibility for SSI is limited to those who have assets of $2,000 or less for an individual and $3,000 or less for a couple. The SSI test generally counts all resources deemed accessible to an individual, including defined-contribution retirement accounts, such as 401(k)s and IRAs, under the asset limit.
H.R. 4937 proposes to remove savings disincentives in SSI by:
- Raising the asset limit to $5,000 for single and $7,500 for joint tax filers and indexing these limits for inflation;
- Excluding retirement savings from inclusion in the asset test for noninstitutionalized individuals under the age of 65;
- Excluding savings in qualified retirement accounts below a specified ceiling of (indexed for inflation) $10,000 for an individual and $15,000 for a couple or household for noninstitutionalized individuals age 65 or older;
- Disregarding one third of the funds drawn down from retirement accounts when calculating household income for noninstitutionalized individuals age 65 or older;
- Removing the requirement that SSI recipients, if eligible, must apply for periodic payments from their retirement savings, and;
- Excluding Education Savings Accounts and Individual Development Accounts funded all or in part with federal dollars or defined in federal programs for those under age 65.
For more information go to http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_HR_4937.html
Source: Justice for All http://jfactivist.typepad.com/jfactivist/current_affairs/
Health Care Reform - Changes Important to People With Disabilities

The attached summary was created by the World Institute on Disability. It is intended to be a "plain language" overview for the general public, with a timeline showing major implementation dates, so that people can get a better understanding of the changes that will affect them in the short-term, to help people prioritize what to focus on first, and learn the details in stages.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Children With Medically Fragile Needs Medicaid Waiver
This waiver is "parent driven" meaning the parent determines what their family can and cannot do.
The waiver is designed to assist qualifying medically fragile children between the ages of 3 and 18 years old.
The child needs to be living at home, be Medicaid eligible, and be able to meet Level of Care criteria for nursing home.
The following waiver services are in addition to what the ND Medicaid State Plan covers: Transportation, Dietary Supplement, Individual and Family Counseling, In Home Support, Equipment and Supplies, Environmental Modifications, Institutional Respite, and Case Management.
To begin the process, contact the Program Manager at 701-328-3701 or 800-755-2604 and complete an application.
Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
New Commission to Address Debt, Social Security
Washington Post
Faced with growing alarm over the nation's soaring debt, the White House and congressional Democrats tentatively agreed Tuesday to create an independent budget commission and to put its recommendations for fiscal solvency to a vote in Congress by the end of this year.
Under the agreement, President Obama would issue an executive order to create an 18-member panel that would be granted broad authority to propose changes in the tax code and in the massive federal entitlement programs -- including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security......FULL STORYAny questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com
Monday, November 16, 2009
2010 1619(b) ND Medicaid Threshold for 2010
"North Dakota Threshold for 2010 is $36,082"
1619(b) provides that if your earned income (after the applicable exclusions) is too high to permit a SSI cash benefit, you will still be eligible for Medicaid.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Increase in the Medically Needy Income Level
Recipient liability is the amount the eligible persons are responsible to pay toward their medical expenses for the month. Reci
pient liability is based on the monthly income of the members of the Medicaid unit, and it is similar to the deductible amount in an insurance policy.
The Medically Needy Income Level establishes the amount of income that individuals, couples, and families may keep to meet their maintenance needs without having recipient liability. Before July 1, 2009, the Medically Needy Income Level was $500 per month for a one-person household and $516 per month for a household of two persons.
As of July 1, 2009, this income level is $750 per month for a one-person household and $1,008 per month for a two-person household. See the following chart for the income levels for households consisting of more than two persons.
| Number of Persons | Monthly Income Level |
| 1 | $750 |
| 2 | 1008 |
| 3 | 1267 |
| 4 | 1526 |
| 5 | 1784 |
| 6 | 2043 |
| 7 | 2302 |
| 8 | 2560 |
| Effective July 1, 2009 | |
For each person in the medically needy unit above eight, add $259 to the monthly amount.
This information was obtained from section 510-05-85-40(2) of the Medicaid Program Policy Manual.
Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
U.S. Senate Introduces Bill to Increase Participation in Clinical Trials for Rare Diseases
Last night, the Senate followed the House’s lead in introducing legislation to allow patients with rare diseases to participate in clinical studies without losing their eligibility for government healthcare benefits.

“The CF Foundation applauds the Senate co-sponsors for introducing this vital bill to allow more people with rare diseases — including cystic fibrosis — to participate in clinical trials," said Robert J. Beall, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. “If successful, this legislation will help ensure swift advancement of life-lengthening and potentially lifesaving drugs from the research phase to the people who need them.”
Currently, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) rules require that compensation provided for participation in a clinical trial be counted as income when determining benefits. Because Medicaid benefits are tied to SSI eligibility, patients who take part in clinical trials may be disqualified from receiving the government healthcare coverage. This penalty prevents many people with rare diseases from participating in clinical studies.
Researchers developing drugs to treat rare diseases like cystic fibrosis struggle to recruit participants for clinical trials because of limited patient populations. More than 30 promising CF drugs are in development, and about 30,000 people in the United States have the disease.
The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. James Inhofe (R-OK), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Chris Dodd (D-CT).
Source: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, www.cff.org.
Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
People With Disabilities Lose Advocate - Ted Kennedy

During his tenure in the Senate (46 years), Sen. Ted Kennedy was crucial in establishing and supporting key legislation that benefit people with disabilities. Here are a few:
- In 1978, Kennedy co-sponsored Civil Rights Commission Act Amendments, which expanded the jurisdiction of the Civil Rights Commission to protect people from discrimination on the basis of disability.
- Kennedy introduced the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990. The bill was designed to prohibit employers from discriminating in job hiring and in the workplace against people who had a disability.
- His vote helped break a Republican filibuster against a bill that blocked cuts in Medicare payments to doctors.
- Supported a bill that required pharmaceutical companies to negotiate prescription drug prices covered under Medicare Part D.
- Voted for expanding the enrollment period for Medicare.
- Kennedy called for extending Medicare coverage to all Americans, medical coverage for the uninsured and modernizing health care systems by using new technologies to cut costs.
- Sponsored the Family Opportunity Act of 2006, allowing states to expand Medicaid coverage to children with special needs.
- Sponsored the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1996.
- In 1997, he rallied for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) under which uninsured children from low-income families could get insurance.
Monday, March 30, 2009
2009 ND Medicaid Thresholds
Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com
WWD Income Level for 2009
Income for WWD eligibility purposes is the net amount that remains after certain disregards and deductions are subtracted from gross income. For more detail, see the entry dated March 5, 2008, under the WWD topic of this blog
Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
2009 Deeming Chart

Deeming is one of the most confusing and misunderstood processes SSA employs. For SSI recipients, certain peripheral incomes (i.e. spousal) may be "deemed" toward their own income when SSA calculates monthly SSI check amounts.
This is extremely important to know because "deemed" income may cause loss of SSI benefits and therefore medicaid eligibility.
Below is a deeming chart which illustrates - as effectively as a chart could - the 2009 break even points (point at which one would become ineligible for SSI) for various deeming scenarios.
Deeming Chart 2009 (1)
Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com
LLC Ruling

There are many questions regarding the interplay between SSA benefits and business structure. Structuring your business is an important decision and a recent ruling regarding LLC's and assets could help in deciding the best entity if you are a medicaid recipient.
OGC has issued an opinion on the LLC issue. The bottom line is that:
1. When an LLC member has conveyed property to the LLC, the member does not have a co-ownership or a transferable interest in the property and the property is not a resource attributable to the member.
2. The fact that an LLC may choose to have the entity taxed as a partnership or sole proprietorship does not alter the fact that property conveyed to the LLC is owned by the LLC, not by any of its members.
3. Property owned by an LLC (and thus, not by any of its members) cannot be excluded under the PESS provisions as property that an individual owns and uses in a trade or business.
4. An LLC member's distributional interest in the LLC, like stock in a corporation, cannot be excluded as PESS and is a resource to the extent that it can be converted to cash and used for food or shelter.
If you have a business set up as an LLC, please be aware of the potential consequences of the LLC structure, including loss of Medicaid.
Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com
Monday, November 17, 2008
1619(b) Threshold for 2009

Section 1619(b) of the Social Security Act is one of the most powerful work incentives currently available for recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI). It provides continued Medicaid eligibility for a working individual whose earned income is too high to qualify for SSI cash payments, but not high enough to offset the loss of Medicaid.
The SSA uses the “threshold” concept to measure whether an individual has sufficient earnings to replace Medicaid. For calendar year 2008, the threshold is $37,917 for a resident of North Dakota who is eligible for SSI. This threshold is $38,040 for 2009.
Therefore, if the earned income of the SSI recipient is the reason that he/she no longer receives SSI payments but his/her earned income is under $37,917 in 2008 and $38,040 in 2009, he/she can still keep Medicaid coverage. This is the general rule. For more information, please contact your Community Work Incentives Coordinator.
Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
WWD and Private Health Insurance—Scenario
Should John have both WWD coverage and the private health insurance? The answer depends on a number of factors, including what items and services the private insurance plan covers, whether John will lose the private insurance if his work hours decrease, and whether John has to pay the premiums for both WWD and the private plan.
The private insurer would be required to be the primary, or first, payer of the medical expenses covered under the plan. After that, WWD, as a Medicaid-type program, would fill in the gaps as the secondary payer.
Medicaid might pay John’s share of the premium for the private health insurance if it is "cost effective" for Medicaid to do so. If this is cost effective, Medicaid could even require John to apply for and take the private insurance so that the private insurer would pay first. However, if Medicaid required John to enroll in the private plan, Medicaid would pay the premium for the private insurance in order to save money for the WWD program. Medicaid would not require John to enroll in the private plan if Medicaid would not pay the premium for it.
John should bring this matter to the attention of his eligibility worker at the county Medicaid office for a "cost effectiveness" determination.
Source: Medicaid Program Policy Manual sections 510-05-20-05 and 510-05-20-15.
Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Another Great Benefit of WWD -- Extra Help with Medicare Part D
The Workers with Disabilities (WWD) program in
If you have WWD coverage and also receive Medicare benefits, you are automatically eligible for extra help with paying for your Medicare prescription drugs. This extra help is called the low-income subsidy, and it is available to you because WWD is a Medicaid-type program.
Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com