33.12 Early Termination

33.12.1 SeniorCare Early Termination

SeniorCare eligibility is terminated prior to the end of the established benefit period if:

A participant no longer meets non-financial eligibility requirements, or
S/he requests to withdraw from the program, or
S/he requests to establish a new benefit period and eligibility for the new benefit period is confirmed (33.11 SeniorCare Re-Application).

When SeniorCare eligibility has been terminated prior to the end of the established benefit period and the SeniorCare Program is notified that all eligibility requirements are again satisfied, within one calendar month of SeniorCare eligibility termination, the benefit period is restored.

Exception: SeniorCare participants who lose SeniorCare eligibility solely due to receipt of MA benefits do not have their benefit period terminated; however, they are not eligible for SeniorCare benefits or services for the calendar months that they receive MA benefits.

If MA eligibility ends prior to the end of the SeniorCare benefit period, and the participant is still SeniorCare eligible, SeniorCare eligibility automatically resumes.

Example 1: Amy applies for SeniorCare on October 4th and is determined eligible effective November 1st. In December she applies for MA and is determined eligible, effective December 1st. Amy is not eligible for SeniorCare benefits or services while she is receiving MA.

In January, Amy inherits $5,000 and is notified that her MA eligibility ends January 31st, because her assets exceed the limit. Amy still meets SeniorCare eligibility requirements, so SeniorCare eligibility will resume from February 1st through October 31st.

See 33.15 SeniorCare Annual Eligibility Review for termination as it applies to the need for an annual review.

33.12.2 Withdrawal

Applicants or participants may withdraw from the SeniorCare Program at any time. To withdraw by phone, call the SeniorCare Customer Service Hotline at 1-800-657-2038.

A request to withdraw can be made in writing to:

SeniorCare

P.O. Box 6710

Madison, WI 53716-0710

A SeniorCare participant is eligible for an enrollment fee refund only if he or she meets the requirements listed in 33.3.2.1 Refunds.

If an applicant chooses to withdraw his or her application prior to eligibility confirmation, he or she will get a refund. If he or she later wishes to “opt in”, he or she will have to re-apply. To re-apply, a new application and enrollment fee are required.

Once eligible, if a participant chooses to “opt-out” and SeniorCare receives the request to withdraw within the timeframe for obtaining a refund, he or she will get a refund of the original enrollment fee. If, within thirty calendar days of opting out, the participant requests to opt in, he or she would need to send in another enrollment fee but would not have to send in another application form. Eligibility will be restored back to the beginning of his or her benefit period, once the fee is received and processed.

The enrollment fee must be received by the deadline identified in the CARES notice to comply with the administrative rule requirement that he or she meets eligibility requirements. If within thirty calendar days of opting out he or she does not contact SeniorCare and SeniorCare does not receive the enrollment fee, he or she will have to submit a new application and another $30 enrollment fee if he or she wants to come back into the program.

If the participant chooses to opt-out and does not do so within the timeframe for obtaining a refund, he or she will not get a refund. Customer Service should counsel the participant that he or she will not be getting a refund, and he or she can keep his or her case open in the event his or her circumstances change and he or she wants to use the SeniorCare benefit in the next 12 months.

If the participant still opts out, but contacts SeniorCare within thirty calendar days of opting out to request to opt in, the original enrollment fee that had not been refunded will be applied. He or she will not have to send in another application form. The person will be made eligible back to their original eligibility begin date for that benefit period. This requires a manual work-around because the system will require another $30 enrollment fee to be credited for CARES to process correctly.

This page last updated in Release Number: 08-01

Release Date: 02/01/08

Effective Date: 02/01/08