Section 210-RICR-10-00-3.5 - Attestations, Consent and Identity ProofingA. Attestations and consent. In accordance with Federal Regulations at 42 C.F.R. § 435.945, when reviewing non-financial eligibility requirements, the State generally accepts: self-attestation when the person completing the application is requesting eligibility; and attestation by an adult who is in the applicant's household or family, or who is acting as an authorized representative, when the person requesting eligibility is a minor or incapacitated.1. Application signature - To attest to the truthfulness of the information provided, an application must be signed either electronically or manually when submitted to be considered valid. The State notifies an applicant when a signature is missing and held in pending status until the State receives the required signature from the applicant/head of household. If the application or appropriate sections or proxies thereof are not returned with a signature by the date due, the application is closed and no further action is taken by the State.2. Consent for electronic data matches - Applicants are asked to provide consent for the State to conduct electronic data matches related to income and other non-financial eligibility factors at the time of application. Refusal to provide such consent does not constitute non-cooperation and, as such, cannot alone result in the denial of eligibility. The State will proceed with an eligibility determination without the applicant's consent. However, without this consent, the application processing time may increase and the State may require applicants to provide supplemental forms of paper documentation to support attestations and selfattestations for persons seeking Medicaid eligibility in the household.B. Identity proofing. Identity proofing is a mechanism for assuring that an applicant is who he or she claims to be. This assurance is required to query the Federal and State electronic databases necessary to verify attestations. In addition, these sources contain confidential, or private information that is protected by law and can only be obtained by and disclosed to the applicant subsequent to identity proofing. Therefore, identity proofing is required for anyone seeking affordable health coverage financed by Medicaid, Federal tax credits, and/or State subsidies through a State eligibility system or health insurance exchange based on the Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) methodology. 1. Applicant's responsibilities - Applicants for Medicaid Affordable Care Coverage (MACC) eligibility under Chapter 30, who are subject to MAGI eligibility determinations, must comply with the provisions for establishing an on-line account set forth in §30-00-3.14 of this Title unless choosing to apply using a paper application. The identity proofing process occurs in conjunction with the creation of an account. a. Beginning the process. The identify proofing process must be completed prior to the start of an on-line application by an adult acting as the head of the household or as authorized representative in the case of minors. The process involves answering a series of questions about a variety of personal matters including current and past residences, place of birth and so forth.b. Alternative forms of proof. If the electronic process does not provide the required level of proof, an applicant may upload into his or her account or submit by fax, mail, or in-person, any of the forms of documents listed in § 3.9 of this Part:2. State responsibilities - Identity proofing is conducted as an electronic process and occurs in conjunction with the creation of account. a. Remote Identity Proofing (RIDP). This process is conducted by a Federal contractor in accordance with nationwide standards. The applicant's responses to questions related to identity are evaluated using a multifaceted authentication process. Once the proofing process is completed, the on-line application process may begin and access personal information held by trusted sources like the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Homeland Security. This information becomes available to both the applicant and the State in real-time rather than after the application is submitted.b. Agency assistance and alternative forms of proof. The State must provide assistance upon request to aid in both creating an account and in facilitating identity proofing for applicants who are unable to obtain the required level of verification through the RIDP process. In addition, the State must make applicants aware of and accept the alternative forms of identity proof identified in § 3.9 of this Part.c. Limits. The identity proofing process is permitted only at the time of initial account creation. The State is prohibited from requiring a beneficiary to repeat the process during post-eligibility reviews or at the time of renewal. The State must also provide applicants with assurances that the identity proofing process, which is conducted by a credit rating agency, does not affect an applicant's credit standing or is not treated as a credit, rather than an identity check, for the purposes of establishing an application account.210 R.I. Code R. 210-RICR-10-00-3.5
Adopted effective 12/29/2022