IM-125 July 28, 2020; IM-100 August 4, 2017
RSMo 208.151 was updated August 28, 2019, to allow certain individuals under the age of 26 who were in foster care to be eligible for healthcare coverage through the Children’s Division (CD).
To qualify, a person must:
- have been in Foster Care and receiving coverage through the Missouri Children’s Division on, or within 30 days prior to, their 18th birthday; or
- have been in Foster Care and receiving Medicaid coverage in another state for at least six (6) months prior to their 18th birthday; and
- apply for and be determined ineligible for MO HealthNet through the Family Support Division (FSD)
If the applicant is eligible for MO HealthNet through FSD and they are currently receiving former foster care youth coverage (ME 38) through the Children’s Division, do not reject the application. Send an email, with a subject line of AC ME 38 – NEEDS TO BE CLOSED to COLE.MHNPOLICY@dss.mo.gov. Include:
- the applicant’s name
- DCN
- current address
FSD staff must approve MO HealthNet the day the former foster care coverage shows as closed in MXIX. Due to the overnight batch process and to prevent gaps in coverage, CD will NOT close ME 38 coverage before a weekend or holiday. Requests received on these days will be processed on the following business day.
To allow for continuity of coverage for former foster care individuals, CD currently auto enrolls participants in Missouri Former Foster Care Youth coverage at the time of age-out; however, a gap in coverage may exist.
EXAMPLE: Mr. Parsons has active Former Foster Care Youth when he applies for MO HealthNet for Aged, Blind, and Disabled (MHABD) and is found eligible. The worker sends an email to COLE.MHNPOLICY@dss.mo.gov to have the AC ME 38 closed. Once the Former Foster Care Youth coverage is closed, the worker approves the MHABD application.
Current system functionality provides qualifying participants who have formerly received coverage under the Former Foster Care Youth program to be automatically reinstated when eligibility for a MO HealthNet program is ended without further action needed by FSD staff.
If the participant failed to report an address change to CD while receiving health coverage, the Former Foster Care Youth coverage will not be automatically reinstated. Upon a determination of ineligibility for the MO HealthNet for Aged, Blind, and Disabled program through FSD, send an email to COLE.MHNPOLICY@dss.mo.gov. Note in the email that the participant needs an eligibility determination for the Former Foster Care Youth program.
EXAMPLE: Mr. Jones was given Former Foster Care Youth coverage when he turned 18. At age 20, he moved out of Missouri to attend college in Arkansas and his coverage was closed. When he graduated at age 22, Mr. Jones moved back to Missouri, but did not notify CD to have his former foster care youth coverage reopened. He applied for the MO HealthNet for Aged, Blind, Disabled program; however his resources did not fall below the resource maximum for a single individual. FSD rejected his MHABD application, and the worker referred his case to COLE.MHNPOLICY@dss.mo.gov to have his former foster care youth coverage reopened.
Individuals who received foster care from another state for at least six months must provide documentation from the state they exited care verifying they were in foster care and receiving Medicaid coverage at the age of 18. These individuals will be designated to an Older Youth Transition Specialist (OYTS) from CD who will coordinate the application process with FSD.
If it is unclear if a participant should be screened for Former Foster Care Youth, send an email to COLE.MHNPOLICY@dss.mo.gov to request a determination.
Individuals who qualify for former foster care youth coverage may also contact the MO HealthNet open enrollment broker by telephone at 800-348-6627, or Children’s Division at https://dss.mo.gov/cd/ or by telephone at 573-522-8024.