2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 27 - Public Assistance › Article 2 - Public Assistance Act › Section 27-2-12.22 - Incarcerated individuals; medicaid eligibility; county jail technical assistance; presumptive eligibility determiner training and certification.

A. Incarceration shall not be a basis to deny or terminate eligibility for medicaid.
B. Upon release from incarceration, a formerly incarcerated individual shall remain eligible for medicaid until the individual is determined to be ineligible for medicaid on grounds other than incarceration.
C. An incarcerated individual who was not enrolled in medicaid upon the date that the individual became incarcerated shall be permitted to submit an application for medicaid during the incarcerated individual's period of incarceration.
D. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to abrogate:
(1) any deadline that governs the processing of applications for medicaid pursuant to existing federal or state law; or
(2) requirements under federal or state law that the human services department [health care authority department] be notified of changes in income, resources, residency or household composition.
E. The provisions of this section shall not require the human services department [health care authority department] to pay for services on behalf of any incarcerated individual, except as permitted by federal law.
F. A correctional facility shall:
(1) inform the human services department [health care authority department] when an eligible individual is incarcerated;
(2) facilitate, with assistance from the department, eligibility determinations for medicaid during the incarcerated individuals' incarceration or upon release;
(3) notify the department upon an eligible individual's release; and
(4) facilitate the department's or any department contractor's provision of care coordination pursuant to the provisions of Section 2 of this 2018 act [33-1-22 NMSA 1978].
G. Upon the written request of a county, the department shall provide a behavioral health screening tool to facilitate screenings performed in accordance with the provisions of Subsection A of Section 2 of this 2018 act, technical assistance and training and certification of county jail presumptive eligibility determiners to a county jail.
H. The secretary of human services shall adopt and promulgate rules consistent with this section.
I. As used in this section:
(1) "care coordination" means an assessment for health risks and the creation of a plan of care to address an individual's comprehensive health needs, including access to physical health care and mental health services; substance use disorder treatment; and transportation services;
(2) "eligibility" means a finding by the human services department [health care authority department] that an individual has met the criteria established in state and federal law and the requirements established by department rules to enroll in medicaid;
(3) "incarcerated individual" means an individual, the legal guardian or conservator of an individual or, for an individual who is an unemancipated minor, the parent or guardian of the individual, who is confined in any of the following correctional facilities:
(a) a state correctional facility;
(b) a privately operated correctional facility;
(c) a county jail;
(d) a privately operated jail;
(e) a detention facility that is operated under the authority of the children, youth and families department and that holds the individual pending a court hearing; or
(f) a facility that is operated under the authority of the children, youth and families department and that provides for the care and rehabilitation of an individual who is under eighteen years of age and who has committed an act that would be designated as a crime under the law if committed by an individual who is eighteen years of age or older;
(4) "medicaid" means the joint federal-state health coverage program pursuant to Title 19 or Title 21 of the federal Social Security Act and rules promulgated pursuant to that act; and
(5) "unemancipated minor" means an individual who is under eighteen years of age and who:
(a) is not on active duty in the armed forces; and
(b) has not been declared by court order to be emancipated.
History:
Laws 2015, ch. 127, § 2; 2018, ch. 74, § 1.
ANNOTATIONS
Bracketed material.
— The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law. Laws 2023, ch. 205, § 16 provided that references to the human services department shall be deemed to be references to the health care authority department.
Cross references.
— For the federal Social Security Act,
see
42 U.S.C.S. § 301 et seq.
The 2018 amendment,
effective July 1, 2018, provided correctional facilities with additional duties related to incarcerated individual's medicaid eligibility determinations, required the human services department to provide to county jails, in connection with medicaid eligibility determinations, behavioral health screening tools, technical assistance and training and certification for counties, and defined "care coordination" as used in this section; in the catchline, added "county jail technical assistance; presumptive eligibility determiner training and certification"; in Subsection F, added paragraph designation "(1)"; in Paragraph F(1), after "incarcerated", deleted "and shall notify the department upon that eligible individual's release", added paragraphs F(2) through F(4); added a new Subsection G and redesignated former Subsections G and H as Subsections H and I, respectively; and in Subsection I, added a new Paragraph I(1) and redesignated former Paragraphs I(1) through I(4) as Paragraphs I(2) through I(5), respectively.