MCO Four-Month Liability for Nursing Facility Care. A STAR+PLUS Member who enters a nursing facility will remain a STAR+PLUS Member for a total of four (4) months. The four (4) months do not have to be consecutive. Upon completion of four months of nursing facility care, the individual will be disenrolled from the STAR+PLUS Program and the Medicaid Fee-for-Service program will provide Medicaid benefits. A STAR+PLUS Member may not change MCOs while in a nursing facility. Tracking the four (4) months of liability is done through a counter system. The four-month counter starts with the earlier of: (1) the date of the Medicaid admission to the nursing facility, or (2) on the 21st day of a Medicare stay, if applicable. A partial month counts as a full month. In other words, the month in which the Medicaid admission occurs or the month on which the 21st day of the Medicare stay occurs is counted as one (1) of the four (4) months. The MCO will not be responsible for the cost of care provided in a nursing facility. For Medicaid-only Members, the MCO is responsible for cost of Covered Services provided outside of the nursing facility. The MCO will not maintain nursing facilities in its Provider Network, and will not reimburse the nursing facilities for Covered Services provided in such facilities. Nursing facilities will use the traditional Fee-for-Service (FFS) system of billing HHSC rather than billing the MCO.
MCO Four-Month Liability for Nursing Facility Care. This section is deleted effective February 28, 2015. A STAR+PLUS Member who enters a nursing facility will remain a STAR+PLUS Member for a total of four months. The four months do not have to be consecutive. Upon completion of four months of nursing facility care, the individual will be disenrolled from the STAR+PLUS Program and the Medicaid Fee-for-Service program will provide Medicaid benefits. Effective October 1, 2014, HHSC will turn off the four-month liability counter described above. STAR+PLUS Members who enter a Nursing Facility and who reach the four-month liability between October and February 28, 2015, will remain in managed care. Tracking the four months of liability is done through a counter system. The four-month counter starts with the earlier of: (1) the date of the Medicaid admission to the nursing facility, or (2) on the 21st day of a Medicare stay, if applicable. A partial month counts as a full month. In other words, the month in which the Medicaid admission occurs or the month on which the 21st day of the Medicare stay occurs is counted as one of the four months. The MCO will not be responsible for the cost of care provided in a nursing facility. For Medicaid-only Members, the MCO is responsible for cost of Covered Services provided outside of the nursing facility. The MCO will not maintain nursing facilities in its Provider Network, and will not reimburse the nursing facilities for Covered Services provided in such facilities. Nursing facilities will use the traditional Fee-for-Service (FFS) system of billing HHSC rather than billing the MCO.
