As Amended
SEC. 41-86-15. Eligibility for benefits; determination.
(1) Persons eligible to receive covered benefits under Sections 41-86-5 through 41-86-17 shall be low-income children who meet the eligibility standards set forth in the plan. Any person who is eligible for benefits under the Mississippi Medicaid Law, Section 43-13-101 et seq., shall not be eligible to receive benefits under Sections 41-86-5 through 41-86-17. A person who is without insurance coverage at the time of application for the program and who meets the other eligibility criteria in the plan shall be eligible to receive covered benefits under the program, if federal approval is obtained to allow eligibility with no waiting period of being without insurance coverage. If federal approval is not obtained for the preceding provision, the Division of Medicaid shall seek federal approval to allow eligibility after the shortest waiting period of being without insurance coverage for which approval can be obtained. After federal approval is obtained to allow eligibility after a certain waiting period of being without insurance coverage, a person who has been without insurance coverage for the approved waiting period and who meets the other eligibility criteria in the plan shall be eligible to receive covered benefits under the program. If the plan includes any waiting period of being without insurance coverage before eligibility, the State and School Employees Health Insurance Management Board shall adopt regulations to provide exceptions to the waiting period for families who have lost insurance coverage for good cause or through no fault of their own.
(2) The eligibility of children for covered benefits under the program shall be determined annually by the same agency or entity that determines eligibility under Section 43-13-115(9) and shall cover twelve (12) continuous months under the program.
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SOURCES: Laws, 1998, ch. 572, § 8; Laws, 2000, ch. 625, § 1; reenacted and amended, Laws, 2001, ch. 532, § 8, SB 2990; Laws, 2003, ch. 543, § 8, HB 897, eff from and after passage (approved Apr. 21, 2003).
PREVIOUS VERSIONS: Pre-2003