DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
ECONOMIC STABILITY ADMINISTRATION
STATE DISABILITY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Filed with the secretary of state on
These
rules take effect immediately upon after filing with the
secretary of state unless adopted under section 33, 44, or 45a(9) of the
administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.233, 24.244, or
24.245a. Rules adopted under these sections become effective 7 days after
filing with the secretary of state.
(By authority conferred on the department of health and human services by section 6
of the social welfare act, 1939 PA 280, MCL 400.6)
R 400.3151 and R 400.3169 of the Michigan Administrative Code are amended, as follows:
R 400.3151 Definitions.
Rule 1. (1) As used in these rules:
(a) “Administrative hearing” means the impartial review by an administrative law
judge of a department decision that a client believes is illegal or unsatisfactory. Both the
client and the department may present evidence in support of their respective positions.
(b) "Administrative recoupment” means a process by which a group’s benefits are
reduced to make payments on an overissuance.
(c) "Agency
errors" means overissuances caused from incorrect actions by the
department
(dc)
"Application" means a signed and dated statement on a form prescribed
by the
department that an
individual person wishes to receive state disability assistance.
(ed)
"Application filing date" means the date an application with minimum
required
information is received by the department.
(fe)
"Authorized representative" means a person an individual
who is not less than 18 years of age and who applies for assistance on
behalf of a client or otherwise acts on a
client's behalf, or both.
The person individual may be, but is not limited to, a guardian,
spouse, or relative outside the group.
(g) “Available
date” means the date an assistance benefit was issued.
(hf)
“Client” means an individual person applying for, currently
receiving program benefits, inquiring about benefits, or is part of the
program group.
(ig)
"Client error" means the department has taken all actions required
under normal
processing procedures but the client has given incorrect or incomplete information or
failed to meet other requirements which impact the amount of program benefits and the
error has not been determined as intentional. An overissuance that results from
department action being discontinued due to a client's administrative hearing request is
client error if a client
withdraws his or her the request, fails to show for the
administrative hearing, or the department's action is upheld at the hearing.
(j)
"Collateral contact" means contact with an information source other
than the
client through written
correspondence, a telephone interview, or an in-person interview.
(k)
"Crediting" means returning the warrant amount to treasury.
(lh)
“Department” means the Michigan department of health and human
services.
(mi)
"Disqualification" means a department penalty action for a person an
individual who is ineligible for program benefits because an eligibility
factor has not been met or because the person individual refuses
or fails to cooperate in meeting an eligibility factor.
(nj)
"Domiciliary care" means a type of care given to residents in a
special living
arrangement whose principal need is supervision and who are generally able to perform
the basic activities of daily living, such as eating, bathing, and dressing.
(k) “EBT” means electronic benefit transfer.
(ol)
"Group" means the state disability assistance group.
(m) “FIP” means family independence program.
(p) “Head of household” means the person who is customarily responsible for
the verbal and written communication between the eligible group and the
department and in whose name program benefits are generated and received.
(qn)
"Institution" means an establishment that furnishes food, shelter,
and some
treatment or services to
more than 3 people individuals who are unrelated to the
proprietor.
(ro)
"Intentional program violation" means an action that occurs when a
client or
authorized representative intentionally withholds or misrepresents information for the
purpose of obtaining
benefits for which he or she that the client or authorized individual
would not otherwise be eligible. An overissuance becomes an intentional program
violation if a client or client's authorized representative is found to be
responsible for an intentional program violation by a court, or as a result of
an administrative hearing or has signed a disqualification agreement.
(sp)
"Mandatory vendoring" means an agency payment of assistance amounts,
without client request, directly to the client's landlord, mortgage holder, or land contract
holder and to the providers of the client's home heating and electricity services.
(tq)
"Monthly payment amount" means the amount of assistance paid to a
group
after deductions for vendoring and any department recoupment.
(ur)
"Overissuance" means that a group receives more benefits than it is
eligible to
receive.
(vs)
"Overissuance period” means the time period during which the overissuance
occurred
(w)
"Overissuance type" means the reason an overissuance occurred. Types
of
overissuances are agency
error, client error, and client intentional program violation.
(xt)
"Pay period" means the first through to the fifteenth
of the month or the sixteenth
Through to
the end of the month.
(u) “Payment standard” means the maximum monthly amount for the approved ongoing monthly certified group size.
(yv)
"Personal care" means assistance that is provided to a person an
individual who needs help in performing personal daily activities, such as
cooking, eating, grooming, shopping, and taking medication.
(zw)
"Potential benefits" means any of the following benefits:
(i) Retirement, survivors, and disability insurance.
(ii) Worker's compensation benefits.
(iii) Veterans administration benefits.
(iv) Railroad retirement benefits.
(v) Pension payments.
(vi) Disability or retirement benefits.
(vii) Earned but unpaid wages.
(viii) Strike pay.
(ix) Vacation pay.
(x) Supplemental security income.
(xi) Family independence program benefits.
(xii) Other than
state-funded, needs-based programs, any other financial benefits for
which potential eligibility exists and which may reduce the state disability assistance
program benefit.
(aax)
"Program group" means those persons individuals living
together whose income and assets must be counted in determining eligibility for
state disability assistance.
(bby)
"Provider" means a person an individual or agency that
furnishes services to a client.
(z) “RCA” means refugee cash assistance.
(cc)
"Reapplication" means an application for state disability assistance
after a
previous case has been
closed.
(ddaa)
"Recoupment" means the process by which the department recovers an
overissuance of program benefits.
(eebb)
"Redetermination" means a review of continuing eligibility for state
disability
assistance.
(ff)
"Redirecting" means routing a warrant to a different address.
(gg)
"Reinstatement" means restoring a closed assistance case to active
status
without a new
application/redetermination form.
(hhcc)
"Repayment" means an action by a client to pay back benefits
received.
(iidd)
"Restricted payments" means mandatory payment made to a person an
individual other than the client in the form of vendor payments or
third-party payments due to a third-party resource disqualification or money
mismanagement.
(jjee)
"Returned warrants" means uncashed warrants received by the local
department
office or treasury.
(ff) “SDA” means state disability assistance.
(kkgg)
"Special living arrangement" means any of the following:
(Ai)
An adult foster care facility.
(Bii) A
county infirmary.
(Ciii)
A substance abuse treatment center.
(Div) A
home for the aged.
(Ev) A
long-term care facility.
(Fvi) A
hospital.
(llhh)
"State disability assistance group" means the members of a program
group who
receive state disability assistance.
(mmii)
"Stop payment" means a department directive to treasury to not honor
a
warrant.
(nnjj)
"Third-party payments" mean an agency payment of a client’s entire
assistance benefit,
without client request, to an agency or person individual outside
the eligible group for management of the assistance on behalf of the group.
(ookk)
"Third-party resource" means a person an individual,
entity, or program that is, or might be, liable to pay all or part of a group
member's medical expenses.
(ppll)
"Treasury" means the Michigan department of treasury.
(qqmm)
"Underissuance" means that a group receives less cash assistance than
it is
eligible to receive.
(rrnn)
"Verification" means documentation or action taken that provides
evidence
establishing the accuracy of a client's verbal or written statements.
(ssoo)
"Voluntary vendoring" means a payment system whereby, at the group’s
request, the department sends part of the group’s cash assistance directly to the provider
for payment of the group’s shelter, heat, or electricity.
(pp) “Warrant” means a written order to pay that instructs a federal, state, or county government treasurer to pay the warrant holder on demand or after a specific date.
(ttqq)
"Warrant date" means the date shown on a warrant. .For
regular client and
vendor warrants, the warrant date is the expected date of delivery. For replacement
warrants, the warrant date is the date the warrant was mailed.
(2) Terms defined in the social welfare act, 1939 PA 280, MCL 400.1 to 400.119b,
have the same meaning when used in these rules.
R 400.3169 Replacement policies for warrants and EBT thefts.
Rule 19. (1) If a group reports an unendorsed warrant lost, stolen, not received, or
destroyed,
then the group may have the warrant replaced if all of the
following criteria, as
appropriate, are met:
(a) The group completes a stop payment/or replacement request
affidavit. For stolen
warrants, a group shall file a police report, unless replacement of the warrant is made after recovery of the warrant amount.
(b) A client or provider shall contact the post office to verify delivery of a warrant
that
was issued but not received. If delivery is verified, then the warrant
is considered
lost.
If delivery cannot be verified, then the warrant is considered not
received.
(c)
For warrants considered not received, a client or provider shall complete a
stop payment/ or replacement request affidavit.
(dc) Under any of the following circumstances, a warrant shall
must be replaced only
after recovery of the original warrant amount:
(i) Replacement is requested more than 30 calendar days after the warrant date.
(ii) The client has previously requested a replacement after cashing the original
warrant.
(iii) A police report was not filed on a stolen warrant.
(iv) The case is closed, or closure is pending.
(v) The warrant to be replaced is a replacement warrant or a vendor warrant.
(2)
If a warrant is cashed by a recipient of cash assistance, then the
department
shall not take action on a request to stop payment on the cashed warrant and a
replacement
warrant will must not be issued.
(3)
A warrant that is lost or stolen after endorsement shall must be
replaced only if the
warrant is later returned or voided.
(4) If a replacement warrant is issued for a warrant that was cashed and the client
claims
that the warrant copy signature is not his or hers that individual’s
signature, then the client shall sign an affidavit that the
signature is not the client's signature.
(5) If a replacement warrant is issued for a warrant that was cashed and the client
fails to keep an appointment to view the warrant, refuses to sign the affidavit, or admits,
endorsing
both the original and replacement warrants, then the department shall
recover the overissuance from the group.
(6) A group currently receiving ongoing FIP, RCA, or SDA may receive a replacement of its FIP, RCA, or SDA that was fraudulently removed from its EBT account. Both of the following conditions apply to a fraudulent removal from an EBT account:
(a) A group is only eligible to receive this payment 1 time in a 12-month period.
(b) Replacement funds will only be approved up to 4 times the payment standard or the amount that was fraudulently removed, whichever is less.