CDHS has begun sending advisory notices (NOTICE Type 22A) to individuals who stopped receiving SSI/SSP benefits because the SSA determined they are no longer disabled and who received a final decision from the SSA and thus can no longer exercise their SSI disability appeal rights. The former SSI/SSP recipients who have or will receive Notice Type 22A include individuals whose disability was based on DA&A and people whose disability was not based on DA&A but who were determined no longer disabled by SSA.

CDHS sent the first set of advisory notices, Notice Type 22A, on June 17, 1997, to all 14,518 people whose SSI/SSP linked Medi-Cal benefits should have been discontinued between December 1996 and March 1997 (the December through March group). In August 1997, CDHS will send the second set of advisory notices, Notice Type 22A, to the April and May group. The same process will apply to all subsequent groups as they are identified each month.

Notice Type 22A is NOT an NOA. Rather, it is an advisory notice informing the former SSI/SSP recipient that the SSA determined he/she is no longer disabled and he/she must submit the enclosed Medi-Cal redetermination forms to the county identified on the Notice Type 22A by the identified deadline. (For Notices Type 22A mailed June 17, 1997, the deadline is July 20, 1997.)

People who receive Notice Type 22A must return the Medi-Cal redetermination forms enclosed with Notice Type 22A. Any individual who submitted the Medi-Cal redetermination forms enclosed with one (1) of the rescinded NOA(s) which proposed to discontinue SSI/SSP linked Medi-Cal benefits effective January 1, 1997, or February 1, 1997, must complete and return the Medi-Cal redetermination forms enclosed with the Notice Type 22A.

Notice Type 22A will not be sent to people whose SSI/SSP benefits were discontinued for reasons other than disability status. Such people will continue to be processed via the current Ramos process.

People issued Notice Type 22A will be processed as follows:

It is the responsibility of each county to notify CDHS if it has received the June 1997 Medi-Cal redetermination forms. If after the claimant has requested a hearing, the county discovers it has received the June 1997 redetermination forms, CDHS will give the county authority to rescind the discontinuance action taken by CDHS so the issue may be resolved without a hearing.

If a hearing is requested and the county has not received the claimant’s Medi-Cal redetermination forms or has not advised CDHS that such forms were received, CDHS will ask the county for a declaration, signed by a county representative, stating that the claimant’s Medi-Cal redetermination forms were not received.

If a hearing is held, pursuant to Notice Type 23, CDHS will submit a position statement with the county declaration attached as an exhibit.

If a claimant testifies he/she submitted the Medi-Cal redetermination forms, the Administrative Law Judge will need to make a finding of fact whether such forms were submitted.

If the judge finds the claimant received the Medi-Cal redetermination forms but did not submit them to the county, he/she will probably deny the claim

If the judge finds the claimant submitted the June 1997 forms, the judge will grant the claim and order CDHS to rescind its discontinuance action, notify the county to send new Medi-Cal redetermination forms to the claimant and allow the claimant 30 days to resubmit the Medi-Cal redetermination forms to the county.

After June 1997, on an ongoing basis, CDHS will send Notice Type 22A to people whose SSI/SSP benefits are discontinued because the SSA determined they are no longer disabled. Notices will be sent only to individuals who had a final decision and could no longer exercise appeal rights. The CDHS will enclose Medi-Cal redetermination forms with each Notice Type 22A. Former SSI/SSP recipients will be given 30 days from the date Notice Type 22A and the Medi-Cal redetermination forms are mailed to complete and return the Medi-Cal redetermination forms to the county.

The same process will apply to those people whose SSI/SSP was discontinued effective April 1997 and ongoing as was applied to the December through March group. That is, if CDHS has not been advised that the person returned Medi-Cal redetermination forms to the county, CDHS will issue a Notice Type 23 discontinuing Medi-Cal because no forms were submitted and the county cannot determine if the person is otherwise eligible for Medi-Cal. If the person returns the Medi-Cal redetermination forms enclosed with Notice Type 22A, the county will evaluate if the person is eligible for Medi-Cal. If the county determines the person is not Medi-Cal eligible, it will issue NOA, MC 318. The person s hearing rights are the same as always.