New
Mexico Register / Volume XXXII, Issue 2 / January 26, 2021
NOTICE
OF RULEMAKING / NEWSPAPER NOTICE
The Human Services Department (the
Department), through the Medical Assistance Division (MAD), is proposing to
amend the New Mexico Administrative Code (NMAC) rule 8.292.400 Medicaid
Eligibility-Parent Caretaker Recipient Requirements.
Section 9-8-6 NMSA 1978, authorizes the
Department Secretary to promulgate rules and regulations that may be necessary
to carry out the duties of the Department and its divisions.
Notice Date: January 26, 2021
Hearing Date: February 26, 2021
Adoption Date: Proposed as June 1, 2021
Technical Citations: 42
CFR 435.110 and 435.4, 1902(a)(10)(A)(i)(I), 1931(b) and (d)
Background
42 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 435.4
defines a dependent child as, “a child who meets both
of the following criteria: (1) Is under
the age of 18, or, at State option, is age 18 and a full-time student in
secondary school (or equivalent vocational or technical training), if before
attaining age 19 the child may reasonably be expected to complete such school
or training.”
The
Department in its State Plan for the Parents and Other Caretaker Relatives
Medicaid category did elect the state option to include
individuals who are parents or other caretakers of children who are 18 years
old, provided the children are full-time students in a secondary school or the
equivalent level of vocational or technical training.
The
18-year-old dependent full-time student requirement is not currently cited in
the Department’s Parent Caretaker NMAC.
The Department is updating Parent Caretaker NMAC with the 18-year-old
dependent full-time student requirement to comport with the State Plan and CFR
language.
42 CFR 435.4 defines a parent or caretaker
relative as “a relative of a dependent child by blood, adoption, or
marriage with whom the child is living, who assumes primary responsibility for
the child's care (as may, but is not required to, be indicated by claiming the
child as a tax dependent for Federal income tax purposes), and who is one of
the following:
(1) The child's
father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, stepfather,
stepmother, stepbrother, stepsister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, or
niece.
(2) The spouse of
such parent or relative, even after the marriage is terminated by death or
divorce.
(3) At State
option, another relative of the child based on blood (including those of
half-blood), adoption, or marriage; the domestic partner of the parent or other
caretaker relative; or an adult with whom the child is living and who assumes primary
responsibility for the dependent child's care.”
The
Department in its State Plan for the Parents and Other Caretaker Relatives
Medicaid category did elect the state option to include as caretaker relative
individuals within the fifth degree of relationship to the dependent
child. The Department is updating Parent
Caretaker NMAC with the 42 CFR 435.4 definition of a caretaker relative to
comport with the State Plan and CFR language.
The Department is proposing to amend the rule
as follows:
Section 8
Section 8 is being amended to include the
Department’s current mission statement.
Section 9
Section
9 is being updated to include the dependent child and caretaker relative
definitions found at 42 CFR 435.4 and the State Plan.
The
register for these proposed amendments to this rule will be available January
26, 2021 on the HSD website at
http://www.hsd.state.nm.us/LookingForInformation/registers.aspx or at
http://www.hsd.state.nm.us/2017-comment-period-open.aspx. If you do not have Internet access, a copy of
the proposed rules may be requested by contacting MAD in Santa Fe at
505-827-1337.
The Department proposes to implement
these rules effective June 1, 2021. A
public hearing to receive testimony on this rule will be held via conference
call at 10 a.m., Mountain Time (MT) on Friday, February 26, 2021. Conference phone number: 1-800-747-5150. Access Code:
2284263.
Interested
parties may submit written comments directly to: Human Services Department, Office of the
Secretary, ATT: Medical Assistance Division Public Comments, P.O. Box 2348,
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-2348.
If
you are a person with a disability and you require this information in an
alternative format or require a special accommodation to participate in the
public hearing, please contact MAD in Santa Fe at 505-827-1337. The Department requests at least ten (10) days
advance notice to provide requested alternative formats and special
accommodations.
Copies
of all comments will be made available by the MAD upon request by providing
copies directly to a requestor or by making them available on the MAD website
or at a location within the county of the requestor.