A family receiving a Temporary Assistance cash grant is actually on two separate programs, Temporary Assistance and Medical Assistance for Families (MAF). Since some requirements for Temporary Assistance do not apply to MAF, a family may continue to qualify for MAF when losing eligibility for Temporary Assistance. Simplified eligibility and procedural requirements for MAF include:
mail-in reinvestigations,reduced verification requirements,interviews may be conducted by phone or waived,no resource limit, andwork participation requirements and sanctions do not apply.
When action is being taken on combination MAF/Temporary Assistance cases, recipients need to clearly understand what is required to continue cash and what is required to continue MAF. The difference in the eligibility criteria must be addressed on adverse action notices, correspondence, and information requests. Taking action on MAF at the same time action is being taken on Temporary Assistance is no different than taking action on Food Stamps at the same time. Sometimes it will be possible to take action on Temporary Assistance and MAF at the same time, but there are times when it will be necessary to implement the Temporary Assistance eligibility decision prior to determining what action to take on the MAF. When a recipient fails to complete a reinvestigation for Temporary Assistance, take action to close the cash and change to MAF only. After taking action to close the cash, send an IM-1U if an MAF review is needed.
EXAMPLE: A Temporary Assistance recipient is sent a letter scheduling an appointment for an interview to complete a reinvestigation. If the appointment is not kept, send an IM-80 to discontinue Temporary Assistance. When the IM-80 expires, complete an IMU5 transaction closing the cash and change to MAF. Notify the client accordingly. Since a face-to-face interview is not a requirement for the review of the MAF case, the MC+ healthcare coverage cannot be discontinued. An IM-1U can be mailed to the recipient for completion of the MAF review. The MAF case can only be closed if the recipient fails to complete and return the IM-1U within the prescribed time frames, and a notice of adverse action has been sent advising of the proposed closing of the MAF case.