441—85.3(249A) Eligibility of persons under the age of 21.
	85.3(1) Age. To be eligible for payment for the cost of care provided by a psychiatric hospital, the person shall be under 21 years of age. When treatment in the hospital is provided immediately preceding the person’s twenty-first birthday, coverage continues to be available until the twenty-second birthday or until service is no longer required, whichever is earlier.
	85.3(2) Period of eligibility. The person is considered to be an inpatient until unconditionally discharged. Coverage extends until the last day of the month of the discharge or the twenty-second birthday. While on inpatient status the eligible person is entitled to the full scope of Medicaid benefits.
	85.3(3) Certification of need for care. For persons eligible for Medicaid prior to admission, an independent team shall certify that ambulatory care resources available in the community do not meet the treatment needs of the recipient, that proper treatment of the recipient’s psychiatric condition requires services on an inpatient basis under the direction of a physician, and that the services can reasonably be expected to improve the recipient’s condition or prevent further regression so that the services will no longer be needed. Team members are independent when they are not employees of or consultants to the facility. Form 470-2780 may be used to document these criteria.
	a. 	For persons eligible for Medicaid prior to admission, this preadmission certification shall be performed within 45 days prior to the proposed date for admission to the facility by an independent team that includes a physician who has competence in diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, preferably in child psychiatry, and who has knowledge of the person’s situation. If a social worker is a part of the team, the social worker may be from the county office of the department of human services.
The evaluation shall be submitted to the facility on or prior to the date of the patient’s admission.
	b. 	When a person makes application for Medicaid subsequent to admission or has an application in process at the time of admission, a certification by the team responsible for the plan of care shall be provided within 14 days after admission and shall cover any period prior to application for which claims are to be made.
	c. 	For emergency admissions, a certification shall be provided by the team responsible for the plan of care within 14 days after admission.
	85.3(4) Financial eligibility for persons under the age of 21. To be eligible for payments for the cost of care provided by a psychiatric facility, persons under the age of 21 must be eligible under one of the coverage groups listed in 441—Chapter 75.
[ARC 6714C, IAB 11/30/22, effective 2/1/23]