Question: I received a letter from the Chautauqua County Department of Health & Human Services, telling me I have to complete a form by the end of the month to continue benefits. I haven’t done this before. Is this real or a scam?

Answer: There are many programs under the umbrella of the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS); one of them being Medicaid. There are many types and levels of Medicaid. During the Public Health Emergency (PHE) caused by COVID, many rules were put on hold. Now that the PHE is officially over, those rules are now being reinstituted.

This means that anyone who has Medicaid, at any level of benefit, will be required in the next 12 months to recertify for those benefits.

The recertification process was done annually based on when you were awarded your Medicaid benefit. During the month of May the recertification process began.

Individuals, or their designated family member, started receiving recertification paperwork from DHHS. Every month there will be a group of individuals getting these recertification forms.

This Notice of Recertification for Medical Assistance, will consist of about 20 pages. Some of those pages are the directions explaining why you have gotten the form and what you are required to do and who to call with questions.

Page 5 usually begins the actual renewal information. This information verification continues through page 11 where you or your Power of Attorney (POA) sign the form attesting to the authenticity of the information.

The recertification requires you to provide proof in the form of supporting documents for the information you state on the application itself. As you work through those six pages of questions, you will find that some of the questions don’t relate to your situation.

Remember they use this same format for all ages of individuals who receive Medicaid.

You probably are not in a job training program, or have an employer or employer health insurance, so you simply answer ‘No’. When you answer no, you don’t need proof of that statement.

When there are answers that you say ‘Yes’, such as information related to income, assets, and health insurance you have, you must include supporting documents.

Proof of income could include your letter from SSA indicating what your 2023 Social Security Benefit is, or copy of your pension statement. Sometimes you receive benefits not in a monthly form, but annually, like a disbursement from an IRA. In this situation what you received in 2022 is appropriate proof, as usually that disbursement is received in December.

For proof of insurance, a copy of your health insurance cards and any premiums you pay for that health insurance. For proof of prepaid burial, you can request the information from your Funeral Home.

In addition to proof of income, you must provide proof of your assets. The Medicaid asset test (amount of money you are allowed to have) increased significantly in 2023. An individual can now have up to $30,182 in assets, a couple can have up to $40,821 in assets.

So these assets and their current values, also need to be proven via documents turned into Medicaid.

There are also situations when someone in the household has died or gotten married since the last Medicaid review.

In this situation the number in your household has changed and supporting documents must be submitted, like a death certificate in the event of a death.

If the event is an increase in the size of the household, supporting documents for that new individual must be submitted, such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, their proof of income and their assets brought to the relationship.

Once all that information is included and documents supporting the information are gathered, the application is signed on page 11. Make a copy of the document for your records, as well as all supporting documents you submitted along with it. Then turn it into DHHS before the deadline indicated.

If there is some reason you cannot return the document and the supporting information into DHHS before the deadline, you must reach out to them and get their advice on how to proceed.

Sometimes there is something you are waiting for proof of, so you can submit everything you have and then submit the last missing item when you receive it.

This recertification process has been ‘on hold’ for more than three years now.

So there are many individuals and couples who have had these benefits for a number of years and have never had to submit this recertification. So this process seems new

and unexpected. Some may have thought that once they applied for Medicaid, it just continues indefinitely with no further documents required. That is not the case. We are again back to completing an annual recertification for all benefits.

This recertification process means you have an opportunity to inform DHHS of your financial situation as it is today, including your income, your expenses and your assets. These programs include: Long Term Medicaid, QMB, QI-1, SNAP (Food Stamps), HEAP, and Low Income Subsidy (LIS), to just name a few.

I am always cautious about completing forms and mailing them back without understanding what it is and why, so I am glad you asked. Always call for more information if you are unsure about the requests, to the agency or another professional in our area.

Senior Life Matters is a community based program sponsored by Lutheran Jamestown. For questions and concerns or to reach Janell Sluga, GCMC, call 716-720-9797 or email SLM@lutheran-jamestown.org.