Plan To Be 100

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has given notice of Medicaid policy changes taking effect October 1, 2022.  I’ll comment on two of those changes:

First, DHHS will provide policy on how to value cryptocurrency (an asset type that had not previously been addressed).  What the policy will say is:

The value of cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Monero, etc.,) available at the time of the interview, is a cash asset.

Determine the value by using the exchange rate the currency is stored in and then converting the currency into U.S. dollars.

Second, and probably of more practical import, are clarifications in the process by which a married person applying for MI Choice Waiver services triggers the snapshot date.  The snapshot is triggered when the person seeking Waiver begins receiving homecare services from somewhere which services have continued for at least 30 days.

The policy says:

Persons applying for the waiver (BEM 106) may have received home and community-based supports and services for a period of time in the past or may be already receiving such services at the time of application. For those persons, the first day of continuous care may be the first day in which the person received at least 2 services listed in Exhibit III in this item for at least 30 continuous days.

The types of services that would qualify (of which an applicant need only be receiving two) are:

Adult Day Health • Chore Services • Community Health Worker • Community Living Supports • Community Transportation • Counseling • Environmental Accessibility Adaptations • Fiscal Intermediary • Goods and Services • Home Delivered Meals • Nursing Services • Personal Emergency Response System (PERS) • Private Duty Nursing/Respiratory Care • Respite • Specialized Medical Equipment and Supplies • Supports Coordination.

Policy requires verification as follows:

Receipt of home and community-based services used to determine the first day of continuous care for the IAA (listed in Exhibit III in this item) must be verified. Sources to verify receipt of home and community-based services listed in the approved waiver include: • Bill from medical provider with dates and types of provided services listed. • Receipt from medical provider with dates and types of provided services listed.

While this process has been in place for some time, the policy is now more clearly expressed and has been moved and consolidated in one place (that is, BEM 402).