Agenda - Council - 09/13/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

preexisting health and economic disparities in the territories amplified the impact of the pandemic on these communities.35 Categorical Eligibility Public Comment: Several commenters suggested that the final rule permit recipients to rely on a beneficiary's eligibility for other federal benefits programs as an easily administrable proxy for identifying a group or population that experienced a negative economic impact as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency (i.e., categorical eligibility). In other words, a recipient would determine that individuals or households are eligible for an SLFRF-funded program based on the individual or household's eligibility in another program, typically another federal benefit program. Commenters noted that categorical eligibility is a common policy in program administration that can significantly ease administrative burden on both program administrators and beneficiaries. Treasury Response: Treasury agrees that allowing recipients to identify impacted and disproportionately impacted beneficiaries based on their eligibility for other programs with similar income tests would ease administrative burden. To the extent that the other program's eligibility criteria align with a population or class that experienced a negative economic impact of the pandemic, this approach is also consistent with the process allowed under the final rule for recipients to determine that a class has experienced a negative economic impact, and then document that an individual receiving services is a member of the class. For these reasons, the final rule recognizes categorical eligibility for the following programs and populations: 35 Lina Stoylar et. al., Challenges in the U.S. Territories: COVID-19 and the Medicaid Financing Cliff, Kaiser Family Foundation (May 18, 2021), https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/challenges-in-the-u-s- territories-covid-19-and-the-medicaid-financing-cliff/. 40