In this editionBad addresses 1 TTT highlights - audit prep 6Correction 2 Hearings received and assigned 6TAG 2 Hearings received via mailbox 7TTT highlights - Veterans benefits 3 Donrsquot forget - Hearings mailbox 7New HIPAA form 3 September 2013 SNAP honor roll 7Donrsquot forget - filing reminder 3 TTT highlights - Medicaid 8ACA information page 3 November 2013 training calendar 9Donrsquot forget - receipting in 3 Forms update 10Direct Deposit reminder 3 Donrsquot forget - Manual letter 61 10Key DHS breakthroughs NVRA VII - NVRA lives 11Illegal housing discrimination 5 TTT highlights - Fast Track 11Pets 5 Printing narrations 11November calendar of events 5 November CBC payment schedule 12Donrsquot forget - The Work Number 5 Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes 12

APD Field Services

In the LoopOctober 2013

Supporting APDAAA field structure by providing efficient timely and accurate information through superior customer service

Bad addressesRecently SNAP Policy had to send out notices to the entire SNAP caseload While preparing for the mass mailing we found some issues with addresses We noticed a trend where ldquoHomelessrdquo is being coded as the home and mailing address We even found some examples where the physical address was filled in with a valid address but ldquoHomelessrdquo was listed as the mailing address These scenarios will guarantee 100 of the time mail will be returned on this case It will also guarantee the recipient will almost certainly have a break in benefits and be forced to make multiple contacts with the offices

Addresses are the foundation of our cases Without a valid mailing address we technically do not have a filing date Without a valid mailing address ndash recipients wonrsquot get their notices If recipients donrsquot get notices they are being denied their due process which we are federally required to provide When this happens we get QC errors When we get QC errors our error rate rises and we end up in trouble with Food and Nutrition Services (FNS)

Itrsquos important to correctly code addresses on FSUP The FSMIS system mails notices to the home address (whatrsquos coded on the Home Addr field) unless another address is entered in the mailing address (Mail Addr field) If the case has a home and a mailing address the system will send notices to the mailing address

Continued on the next page

October 2013 Page 2

TAGThe APD TAG or Technical Assistance Guide is updated as of September 2013 and posted on the Staff Tools web page in the lsquoContactrsquo section

If yoursquove never seen the TAG it is a pretty comprehensive list of who does what in Central Office and how to get in touch with them you can do a web page search so you donrsquot have to scroll through the 17 pages

If you have an old version lying around please get rid of it and use the online version only Many thanks to everyone who worked on updating this guide

Correction

The TTT Highlights from CMU in the September newsletter had an error The article said if the head of household dies the remaining household members must reapply for SNAP ndash this is not true

Instead just change the Head of Household on the case and carry on You may need to cancel the deceased person EBT card and issue the new HH their own card

Remember they do not need to reapply Sorry about the mistake

Many thanks to the SNAP policy analysts

Continued from the previous page

Please make sure you are not certifying cases without a valid mailing address If the recipient is homeless please make sure you add ldquohomelessrdquo to the Home Addr field and a valid mailing address to the Mail Addr field If the applicant does not have one they can use General Delivery as a last resort This means mail will be held at the local area post office for up to 30 days In medium to large cities with multiple ZIP Codes the applicant will want to make sure to use the ZIP Code for the arearsquos main Post Office To find the main Post Office which will accept General Delivery in an area you can speak to any Post Office associate or call 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777)

In addition if you receive mail returned whether because the mailing address is coded as homeless or it is a regular piece of returned mail follow the returned mail process found in the SNAP Multiple Program Worker Guide 20 Make sure to check the files and online and narratives for any updated addresses If found make the update on the case and resend what has been returned If no updated address can be found you must close the case with a reason code of RM SNAP cases should not be opened if we do not have a valid mailing address

Please help your clients ensure they get their notices and do not lose benefits Make sure you have a valid mailing address on each and every caseSNAP Policy Analysts

Tug - Chris Cooney North Bend

ldquoLikerdquo ADRC of Oregon on Facebook to get the latest news and information from the ADRC project And visit the ADRC website to keep up with whatrsquos happening

October 2013 Page 2

TAGThe APD TAG or Technical Assistance Guide is updated as of September 2013 and posted on the Staff Tools web page in the lsquoContactrsquo section

If yoursquove never seen the TAG it is a pretty comprehensive list of who does what in Central Office and how to get in touch with them you can do a web page search so you donrsquot have to scroll through the 17 pages

If you have an old version lying around please get rid of it and use the online version only Many thanks to everyone who worked on updating this guide

Correction

The TTT Highlights from CMU in the September newsletter had an error The article said if the head of household dies the remaining household members must reapply for SNAP ndash this is not true

Instead just change the Head of Household on the case and carry on You may need to cancel the deceased person EBT card and issue the new HH their own card

Remember they do not need to reapply Sorry about the mistake

Many thanks to the SNAP policy analysts

Continued from the previous page

Please make sure you are not certifying cases without a valid mailing address If the recipient is homeless please make sure you add ldquohomelessrdquo to the Home Addr field and a valid mailing address to the Mail Addr field If the applicant does not have one they can use General Delivery as a last resort This means mail will be held at the local area post office for up to 30 days In medium to large cities with multiple ZIP Codes the applicant will want to make sure to use the ZIP Code for the arearsquos main Post Office To find the main Post Office which will accept General Delivery in an area you can speak to any Post Office associate or call 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777)

In addition if you receive mail returned whether because the mailing address is coded as homeless or it is a regular piece of returned mail follow the returned mail process found in the SNAP Multiple Program Worker Guide 20 Make sure to check the files and online and narratives for any updated addresses If found make the update on the case and resend what has been returned If no updated address can be found you must close the case with a reason code of RM SNAP cases should not be opened if we do not have a valid mailing address

Please help your clients ensure they get their notices and do not lose benefits Make sure you have a valid mailing address on each and every caseSNAP Policy Analysts

Tug - Chris Cooney North Bend

ldquoLikerdquo ADRC of Oregon on Facebook to get the latest news and information from the ADRC project And visit the ADRC website to keep up with whatrsquos happening

October 2013 Page 3

TTT highlights ndash Veterans benefitsBelow are highlights from the October 10 2013 Train the Trainer (TTT) meeting on veterans benefits For information on attending TTT in person or via V-Con or on presenting at the TTT meetings please contact Lauren Mitchell

Veterans Aid and Attendance (AampA) explainedAid and Attendance is a monetary payment given to veterans and veteran spouses to

assist with activities of daily livingoEating bathing dressingundressing medication dosing and lsquoneeds of naturersquo (ie

toileting)oPersons who are blind in nursing homes or are in an assisted living facility can qualify

Recipients of AampA do not need to have eligibility based on service related incident or injury

Counting Client Assets 83Veteran Benefits 83 is completely updated with the current veterans

benefit information including Aid and AttendanceScroll through the 83 section for examples of situations specific to APD and

AAARecoveryEAU is not able to separate the service payments from the Medicaid

payments Therefore the branches must calculate what the client owes the Department for services paid in the time period covered by the the retroactive AampA payment

Used the HINQ SFMU and SCLM screens to locate the monthly amount due to the stateoSCLMrprime

Willie - Annie Muller- Warrant Albany

New HIPAA formEffective September 23 2013 there is a new required Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) form From today forward please recycle all copes of the HIPAA form prior to September 2013

The new form is available to order through the usual systems Staff can also download the form on the DHS Forms Server search for MSC 2090 Notice of Privacy Practices ndash for Medical Assistance Premium Assistance Programs

Donrsquot forget Keep everything you used for an eligibility determination in the same file If the

customer has more than one file the current file should have ID citizenship documentation the application used verification private health insurance notes scribbles ndash you get the idea There should be one single place with everything someone might need for audits transfers or reviews Your help is appreciated

October 2013 Page 4

Donrsquot forget When receipting in money for the pay-in at the local office ask the person to include

identifying information on the check to ensure the payment is posted to the correct account This will facilitate faster and more accurate posting to SMFU Btw - all checks should be written to ldquoDHSrdquo

ACA information pageThe APD Medicaid policy unit put together a webpage for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) medical changes The new page is under the APD Staff Tools lsquoNewsrsquo header and is called Affordable Care Act (ACA) Information and FAQs

On the new page you will find links to

Send questions to the APD Medicaid analystTransmittals and Five Minute updatesTransfer form 5503 email link Copies of letters to customers and more

Be sure to use the question link if you have questions In outlook use 5503 Case Transfers and for all other email please use 5503sspcasetransfersstateorus

Direct Deposit reminderPlease remember to use the current Direct Deposit form and not the old and obsolete form The new form is the DHS 189 Direct Deposit Authorization The old form was the 7262H Be sure to use the current address

Please review what you are using and recycle all of the incorrect forms APD-AR-13-066

Gus - Margaret May Central Office

Key DHS breakthroughsDid you see the message from director Erinn Kelley-Siel on the Agency Key Breakthroughs Here is what she had to say relating to Long-Term care

Long-Term services and support are sustainable and meet the needs of Oregonians Many Oregonians who are aging or have physical intellectual or developmental disabilities require our long-term assistance in order to remain safe and healthy This team is working with staff and community partners to create a state-of-the-art system of services and supports with the goal of designing and implementing a flexible set of services that can deliver exactly what each individual may need at the right time and place for that person

To see the rest of Erinnrsquos message including the key breakthroughs for service equity and program outcomes go to the DHS webpage wwworegongov

Send in your branch photos and stories to karenlgulliverstateorus and inspire others

October 2013 Page 5What is illegal housing discrimination

Housing discrimination is treating a person or a group of people differently than others are treated under the same or similar circumstances or denying the benefits or privileges provided to others This is illegal in any housing situation if it is done based on onersquos protected class status or because of the protected class of those she associates with

The federally protected classes are race color national origin religion sex familial status (children) and disability There are additional state and local protections

Denying someone the right to rent or buy a home or get a home loan or home insurance based on their protected status is illegal under federal state and local fair housing laws It is also illegal to charge some people more or to harass them because of protected class status

For more information about senior housing and fair housing law visit wwwFHCOorg The Fair Housing Council is a nonprofit organization serving Oregon and South West Washington Anyone may call the Fair Housing hotline at 800-424-3247 ext 2 or visit wwwfhcoorgJo Becker Education and Outreach Coordinator

Milo - Chelli Nichols Grants Pass

November 2013Alzheimerrsquos disease awareness month

Family caregivers monthLong-term care awareness month

National COPD month

Nov 1 - 7 Patient accessibility weekNov 1 - 3 Punkinrsquo chunkinrsquo days

Nov 10 - 16 Hunger awareness weekNov 24 - 30 Better conversation week

Nov 1 Give up your lsquoshouldsrsquo dayNov 3 Daylight Savings Time ends

Nov 4 Fill our staplers dayOct 8 Depression screening day

Nov 7 Men make dinner (no BBQ)Nov 11 CLOSED - Veterans Day

Nov 13 World kindness dayNov 21 Great American smoke outNov 24 Small business Saturday

Nov 28 CLOSED - ThanksgivingNov 29 Computer security day

Donrsquot forget If you arenrsquot signed up to use The Work Number yet ndash the time has come The Work Number

has income information for thousands of employers including some in your area Remember ndash just because your customers are not the average worker doesnrsquot mean they arenrsquot working somewhere a lsquohow-torsquo is on the SNAP web page Using The Work Number will prevent errors (like the ones from last month) and reduce your pends Contact your local sub-administrator if you have problems connecting

PetsSend in your pet pictures please Winter is coming - so remember to send in your holiday and snowy pics too Send them to karenlgulliverstateorus or 503-569-7034 You too AAA Scaly furry hairy feathery - we like them all

October 2013 Page 6TTT highlights ndash Audit prep

Below are highlights from the October 10 2013 Train the Trainer (TTT) meeting specifically on upcoming audits For information about attending TTT in person or via V-Con or on presenting at the TTT meetings please contact Lauren Mitchell

Program and payment audits happen at the end of each calendar year and the beginning of the next To help you get ready for the annual audits here are some tips and suggestions

This year Central Office will do everything they can to request file information scanned and sent via email instead of having the hard file mailed to Salem

If you email in customer information make sure it is sent securely (secure)

Send in exactly what is asked for ndash not more or lessoSending in the right thing for the wrong date is confusing and a little odd

If you are missing a voucher for April let us know the voucher from June is not helpful

Dates are very important ndash the auditor often wants files the next day and we negotiate a later date It is very important to meet the date we agree tooIf your office is going to miss the date let someone at Central office

know We can usually get an extension with a good reason (illness vacations etc) If you miss it and donrsquot say anything we think you donrsquot have the file

Audits are disruptive and stressful for everyone Please remember your friends in Central Office are also stressed and rushed Wersquore all in this together and wersquoll make it through with flying colors ndash like we always do

Riley - Terry Sutton North Bend

October 2013 Page 7

Donrsquot forget Send your

hearing requests ndash securely ndash to the Hearings email box APD Hearings in Outlook or spdhearingsstateorus Itrsquos quick and easy and therersquos no need to find a fax machine

September 2013 SNAP honor roll100 accuracy

0511 Warrenton AAA 100 2111 Toledo AAA 1000911 Bend APD 100 2711 Dallas AAA 1000913 La Pine APD 100 2911 Tillamook AAA 1001211 John Day APD 100 3013 Hermiston APD 1001811 Klamath Falls APD 100 3111 LaGrande APD 1001911 Woodburn AAA 100 3211 Florence AAA 1002011 Eugene AAA LCOG 100 3415 Tigard APD 1002019 Cottage Grove AAA 100 3617 McMinnville AAA 100

90 or better accuracy1717 Grants Pass DSO 0411 St Helens APD3411 Hillsboro APD 1011 Roseburg APD0111 Baker City APD 2311 Ontario APD0310 Canby APD 2211 Albany AAA0311 Oregon City APD 3515 Portland AAA0313 Milwaukie APD

57 of all the APD and AAA offices are on the honor roll

Have a question about Voter Registration Ask your local site coordinator check the manual or call IM or email Karen Gulliver 503-569-7034 karenlgulliverstateorus You can also contact Karen to ask about training in your area

Durin - Karen Gulliver Central Office

October 2013 Page 8

TTT highlights ndash MedicaidBelow are highlights from the October 10 2013 Train the Trainer (TTT) meeting specifically on Medicaid updates For information about attending TTT in person or via V-Con or on presenting at the TTT meetings please contact Lauren Mitchell

Pay-inEffective February 1 2014 the pay-in standard will increase to the new OSIPM standard

plus $500 Look for more information in a transmittal in JanuaryoPotential for an increase of in-home service customers when

the information about the change lsquogets outrsquooCould see adult foster home (AFH) and nursing facility (NF)

customers moving into the community with the availability of lower cost servicesoWith no customer liability workers will lsquotouchrsquo the cases less often (no need to update

the pay-in)MAGI (Modified Adjusted Gross Income) based medicalMAGI based medical is generally unavailable to persons who receive MedicareoMedicare customers will continue to have the same options as they have today ndash

including the potential for dual eligibilityoMedicare recipients who are also pregnant or are the caretaker relative for children may

be eligible for MAGI based medical programs much the same as they are today Keep watching for transmittals and other communications from the APD Medicaid Policy

groupTrustsMinor changes in how APDDHS deals with lawyer involved trustsoThe trustee must set up the trust account through a bankoStaff should verify the trust has been created (it needs to be funded as soon as

practicable)Non lawyer trusts must be verified as having been created and fundedoEAU has discovered several cases where a trust account was not established at a

financial institution This means the consumer remained over incomeoIf the trust is not created the trustee may not be paid

ACA informationThe Affordable Care Act (ACA) website has all the information on the changes to medical

program benefits to-dateDonrsquot forget to check back often to the ACA FAQs

Angel - Lisa Moon LaPine

October 2013 Page 9

November 2013 training calendarMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

1

4Cultural competency and diversity Portland (830 - 400)Ask diversity (830 - 1200)

5Advanced eligibility calculations and trusts (830 - 400)Cultural competency and diversity Eugene (830 - 400)

6CAPS basics (830 - 430) EPD (830 - 430)DV 101 Portland (830 - 430)

7CAPS basics (830 - 430) Presumptive Medicaid training (830 - 1200)

8Cultural competency and diversity Salem (830 - 400)

11 CLOSED 12 13Oregon ACCESS basics (830- 400)

14Oregon ACCESS basics (830- 400)

15

18Cultural competency and diversity Salem (830 - 400)

19 20Oregon ACCESS Inquiry (830 - 430)

21Basic Lean concepts Salem (830 - 1200)

22Ask diversity (830 - 1200)

25 26 27 28CLOSED

29

Dates and availability of classes are subject to change Please review availability on the DHS Learning Center

Heisenberg - Beth Elye Roseburg

October 2013 Page 10Forms update

Please delete all copies of the prior versions of these forms from your desktop and archives Use only current version going forward All current forms are on the DHS forms serverDHS 0078 0079 and 0080 - the transmittal forms - are updated to include the Office of

Licensing and Regulatory Oversight (OLRO)MSC 2090 Notice of Privacy Practices ndash For Medical Assistance Premium Assistance

Programs is updated with new language SDS 0287K Oregon Project Independence (OPI) IncomeFee Determination Record

updated with changes related to the K PlanSDS 0287L Oregon Project Independence (OPI) Service Agreement is also updated with

the K Plan changes SDS 0305 Residents Bill of Rights - For Posting is updated SDS 0305A Adult Foster Home Residents Bill of Rights - For

Signature is also updatedSDS 0400 Address Change is now in Spanish and English large

print as well as Russian and Vietnamese with the federal voter registration question

SDS 0492 Specific Needs Contract Resident Termination is updated with requirements from the AFH Collective bargaining agreements

SDS 0494 APD Specific Needs Contract Resident Admission is also updated from the AFH collective bargaining

SDS 0539F Food Benefit Filing Form is updated with the federal voter registration question

SDS 546IC Independent Choices Benefit Calculation is updated with the new ratesSDS 0727 Medicaid Fraud Referral is updated on the forms server SDS 3401 Resource Assessment is updated to allow all fields to expand and to include

multiples of the same resource (such as bank accounts)

Wersquore working hard to get the forms updated - expect more updates in the following months If you see a form in need of an update let Karen Gulliver know

Linus amp Turtle - Jenny Cokeley Central Office

Donrsquot forget Please review Manual letter 61 on the APD Staff Tools website for updated rules and procedures also see SS-PT-13-030 and SS-PT-13-031 for

a complete list of updated OARrsquos FYI - All OCCS medical program rules are moving to to the 410-200 series of DMAP rules

Looking for past issues of In the Loop Do you wish you had an index to find things Newsletter and the indexes are on the APD Field Services web page wwwdhsstateorusspdtoolsfieldindexhtm

October 2013 Page 11

NVRA VII ndash NVRA livesHere are more questions and answers about the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) procedures If you have a question contact Karen Gulliver by phone 503-569-7034 email karenlgulliverstateorus or IM

Q My customer said no because they are already registered What should I narrateA NVRA narration should be very simple our regular narration covers all the details This is

what I would like you to narrateVoter Registration Yes orVoter Registration No

ldquoYesrdquo means they completed the registration and ldquonordquo means they did not complete the registration form You can also use these terms

Voter Registration Completed orVoter Registration Declined

Q Can I scan the declinations and save them electronicallyA Yes you can As long as the declinations are saved for 24 months and are on a shared drive

(I-drive) then you can choose to save them electronically Please save declinations in this format MM-DD-YY_first initallastname for example 10-31-13_kgulliver And donrsquot forget about the interactive PDF for the MSC 503D on the forms server The date field on the 503D pdf will auto-fill when you save the form

Q Do I really have to do a 503D when someone says yesA Yes you really do The states had clarification from the federal Department of Justice

who owns the NVRA stating every single person who applies reapplies or changes their address has to have as completed declination marked either lsquoyesrsquo or lsquonorsquo If the person says lsquoyesrsquo to voter registration tear off the perforated part of the MSC 503 print their name print the dates and mark the yes box Or you can fill out an electronic 503D (see above)

I know ndash a lsquoyesrsquo response is not the same as declining we are just following federal directions Go ahead and mark the yes box on the 503D

Q Can we update the voter registration form The text is too small and itrsquos confusingA It is too small and it is confusing but no we canrsquot update the forms If Irsquove been out to see

you we probably talked about this - the federal DOJ has decided Oregon can only have forms in English and no other language (itrsquos based on the census) If we ask for updates to the forms the Elections office wonrsquot re-translate the forms Since we want to keep the Spanish forms we are going to continue to use the forms as they areHerersquos a solution for the tiny print - use the large print MSC 500 Yes its the forbidden lobby form but itrsquos the only large print we have Make sure to fill out a separate declination form 503D because it doesnrsquot have the tear off one like the 503

Bella - Ed Scott SFPSS

October 2013 Page 12TTT highlights ndash Fast-Track

Below are highlights from the October 10 2013 Train the Trainer (TTT) meeting specifically on the Fast Track application process For information about attending TTT in person or via V-Con or on presenting at the TTT meetings please contact Lauren Mitchell

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) was granted permission to implement Fast-Track medical application processing for the January Medicaid changes Here is some of the basic Fast-Track information

Fast-Track applications use the information on the SNAP screens for medical determinations

Non SSI non Medicare adults were sent a letter for return explaining their potential eligibility indicating they want to enroll via fast TrackoThere will be no reminders notices for persons who received the Fast-Track letters ndash the

customer is responsible for returning the consent letter - New groups will be selected periodically from the SNAP case load and they will also get a consent letters Look for more information in the future

oIt appears there was a glitch screening out all MedicareSSI recipients so some persons may have received the letter in error

Fast-Track eligibility is not based on the OCCS (formerly SSP medical) eligibility groups Fast-Track uses the SNAP groupoFor this group there is not a separate medical eligibility

determinationCAWEM customers are not eligible for Fast-Track medical (there

was some confusion about this) since CAWEM clients are not eligible for SNAPoPregnant CAWEM customers will receive full medical

coverage in all counties up to the date of delivery under CAWEM Plus benefits

Additional information about the Fast Track enrollment process is available at httpwwwdhsstateoruscafss_ohpacahtm

See SS-IM-13-026 for more information about Fast Track letters and other changes to support the Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation

M flying Bud and Kalaban - Sherry Devlin Grants Pass

Printing narrationsDonrsquot print narrations ndash isnrsquot that easy APD and AA used to have to print narrations when we transferred a case to Self-Sufficiency but they now can have Oregon ACCESS on their desktops so we donrsquot have to Save the paper and the time ndash you have enough to do

October 2013 Page 13November Community Based Care payment schedule

November payments for the APD DD and CEP Programs will issue the night of Friday November 1st and mail to providers the next business day which is the morning of Monday November 4th

Regular payment schedules are as followsAPD and DD payments process the night of the first of each

calendar month and mail the next business dayCEP payments issue the night of the first business day of the

month and mail the next business day

Direct Deposit (EFT) payments will also issue on the night of November 1st but rather than being mailed on Monday November 4th they will be sent to the Department of Treasury and out to individual banks for processing Banks are allowed to use up to three (3) banking days to process direct deposit payments which does not include weekends or holidays Please note DHS does not have any control of how and when individual banks process their direct deposit payments

Per the agreement signed by the provider to begin direct deposit of their payments the provider is required to confirm funds are available before making purchases out of their account DHS will not reimburse providers for overdraft charges due to insufficient funds

EFT payments should be available in provider accounts on or before 1159 pm of Wednesday November 6th Direct Deposit information and sign-up form Click hereSPD Payment Support Unit

Chris Ellis Hearings sent a

picture but I couldnrsquot post it Here is a nice happy picture instead kg

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changeshellip

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) created a new way to determine household composition and income for Medicaid and CHIP based on the Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) status

As a result The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) has suspended the eligibility review portion of the Payment Error Rate Measurement (PERM) through 2017 CMS is requiring all states to conduct targeted ldquopilotsrdquo to measure the accuracy of the MAGI calculation household size closures denials and if a referral was made to Cover Oregon - among other elements

Branch 5503 will work most MAGI cases so Medical Eligibility Quality Control (MEQC) has will collaborate closely with 5503 to identify deficiencies and associated training needs

Because of this unique review situation MEQC will not participate in the statewide monthly QC panel discussion However you can still revel in the SNAP and TANF QC error discussion and will soon be able to enjoy the added bonus of upcoming ERDC reviewsQuality Control