Post Storm Changes to Medicaid

In the aftermath of super-storm Sandy, immediate changes have been made to the Medicaid program by administrative and executive directives:

1. The Statute of Limitations to request a Fair Hearing to appeal any Medicaid notice has been suspended until further notice.
2. Providers are not required to secure prior authorization to treat Medicaid recipients for “urgent services.”
3. Medicaid-reimbursed Personal Care Services will be made available in temporary emergency shelters.
4. New York City has taken the following additional measures to ensure that Medicaid recipients do not experience an interruption in benefits, and to protect the procedural rights of Medicaid applicants:

• • Medicaid benefits due to expire in November and December of 2012 will be granted an automatic 2 month extension of time.
  • Currently open Medicaid cases will not be closed based on a failure to provide documentation until further notice.
  • Requests for information for new Medicaid applications will be granted an automatic 7 day extension, extending the time to respond to 21 days.

For more information on post-storm Medicaid changes, or other questions about Medicaid-related legal matters, please contact Nancy Levitin, Partner and the Director of the Health Care Reimbursement and Recovery Practice at Abrams Fensterman at 516-328-2300 or email [email protected].