About 6,600 Kansas families who left the state’s Temporary Assistance to Families cash assistance program after October 1, 1996 are being notified by mail they will be reinstated to the state’s Medicaid program for three months beginning January 1, 2001. Medicaid is the federal/state medical insurance program for low-income families and individuals.

In sending out the notices, Kansas is responding to a federal directive affecting all states. Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services Secretary Janet Schalansky said the agency looks at the order as an opportunity to get needed medical insurance to children and families.

The notices were mailed Nov. 1. The notices inform the individuals they will receive three months of medical benefits beginning January 1. In December, those who have been located through the first mailing or through follow up attempts to find their location will be sent a short application for continued Medicaid benefits after the three month reinstatement period ends at the end of March. The January medical card for Medicaid coverage will be sent to those reinstated early in January.

SRS has established a temporary toll-free number for former cash assistance recipients who received the reinstatement notice to call with questions. The number for the Medical Reinstatement Unit at SRS is 1-866-551-9119.

SRS Secretary Janet Schalansky said the agency is using the process as an outreach opportunity to get children and families into health insurance programs with the federal government paying more than half the costs.

"This is a chance to get needed health insurance to children and families," she said.

The decision to locate and reinstate former cash assistance recipients to Medicaid comes after the federal Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) ordered states to review all Temporary Assistance to Families (TAF) cash assistance cases closed since the beginning of welfare reform in October, 1996 to determine if Medicaid coverage was redetermined at the time of TAF closure. Prior to federal welfare reform, only families eligible for cash assistance were eligible for Medicaid. Now, families do not have to be eligible for cash assistance to be Medicaid-eligible.

"We want to make sure no one is falling through the cracks," said Candy Shively, Deputy Secretary for Integrated Services Delivery at SRS. "At the time federal welfare reform was implemented, there was not a clear understanding from the federal government on the new relationship between the cash assistance program and Medicaid.

"With this effort to locate these former beneficiaries and reinstate their eligibility for three months, it gives us a chance to assess cases that could potentially be eligible for medical assistance," Shively added.

During the 90 day reinstatement period, SRS will review each individual’s eligibility for continued Medicaid coverage. Adults must either meet cash assistance income and assets standards, be pregnant, or meet elderly or disability criteria to be eligible for continued Medicaid coverage. Children must meet either poverty level eligibility for Medicaid or eligibility for the children’s health insurance program, HealthWave, which provides health insurance for children in families with incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

Those determined to be eligible for continued coverage will have such coverage established April 1, 2001, after the end of the 90-day reinstatement period.

Page Last Updated: May 29, 2001