10-144 C.M.R. ch. 301, § 800-FS 888-4 - Actions on Recipient Households

GENERAL RULE - Case action on IEVS information about recipient households must be complete within 45 days of receipt of that information.

NOTE: The 45-day time limit means, in effect, that the Regional Office has thirty days to complete case action, since it will take about two weeks for the Central Office to edit, print, and distribute written instructions to the regions.

Case action includes:

1. review of the information, and comparison of it, to information in the case record.

2. for all new or previously unverified information received, contact with the household and/or the appropriate assets or income source to resolve discrepancies (FS 888-5).

3. when discrepancies warrant, action to begin reduction of benefits or termination of eligibility (advance notice sent).

Appropriate case action and dates shall be noted on the IEVS document and filed in the case record with the exception of documents containing IRS information. All documents generated from IRS source data shall be destroyed once case action is completed. A master file of IRS documents will be maintained at Quality Control. BEERS data contains IRS information and is subject to the same security.

When the case actions substantiate an over-issuance, appropriate actions to initiate claims and/or disqualification proceedings shall be taken. (REMEMBER: Adverse actions based on Federal matches require 30 day advance notice.)

NOTE: The 45-day time limit does not apply to claims and disqualification actions.

ACTIONS BASED ON MESC MATCHES

When any adverse action is called for and is based upon information from an MESC match, the household shall be sent a written notice at least 12 days prior to taking such adverse action.

The notice shall advise the household that the Department has received information which indicates the need for adverse action and that it has 12 days to contest the decision. The notice shall state that, unless the Department is notified otherwise within 12 days by the household, it will assume that the data provided by the match or obtained through independent verification is correct and the adverse action will be taken.

ACTION BASED ON FEDERAL RECORD MATCHES

When any adverse action is called for and is based upon information from BEERS or IRS matches the household shall be sent a written notice at least 30 days prior to taking such adverse action.

Notes

10-144 C.M.R. ch. 301, § 800-FS 888-4