Inmates of Public Institutions 510-05-35-95

(Revised 4/1/11 ML #3263)

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(N.D.A.C. Section 75-02-02.1-19)

 

  1. For purposes of this section:

  1. "Individual on conditional release" means an individual who is away from the institution, for trial placement in another setting or for other approved leave, but who is not discharged. An individual on "definite leave" from the state hospital is an individual on conditional release.

  2. "Inmate of a public institution" means a person who has been sentenced, placed, committed, admitted, or otherwise required or allowed to live in the institution, and who has not subsequently been unconditionally released or discharged from the institution.

An individual is not considered an inmate if:

  1. The individual is attending school at the North Dakota School for the Blind in Grand Forks, or the North Dakota School for the Deaf in Devils Lake;

  2. The individual is in a public institution for a temporary period pending other arrangements appropriate to the individual's needs (i.e., Juvenile Detention Center, Fargo); or

  3. The individual is over age sixty-five and a patient in the state hospital.

  1. "Unconditionally released" means released, discharged, or otherwise allowed or required to leave the institution under circumstances where a return to the institution cannot be required by the operator of the institution.

Examples of public institutions include but are not limited to: State Hospital, School for the Blind, School for the Deaf, State Developmental Center at Grafton, Veterans Administration Hospitals, North Dakota Veteran’s Home, North Dakota Youth Correctional Center, North Dakota State Penitentiary, and city, county, or tribal jails.

  1. An inmate of a public institution is not eligible for Medicaid unless:

  1. The eligible individual is residing in the ICF/MR at the State Developmental Center, or is in long term care in the North Dakota Veteran’s Home;

  2. The individual is under age twenty-one, in the state hospital receiving inpatient psychiatric services, and who meets the certificate of need for admission. A person who attains age twenty-one while receiving treatment, and who continues to receive treatment as an inpatient, may continue to be eligible through the month the individual attains the age of twenty-two; or

  3. The individual is under the age of 19 and is determined to be continuously eligible for Medicaid.  While the individual remains eligible for Medicaid no medical services will be covered during the stay in the public institution.

  1. Individuals who are committed under the penal system to a public institution are not eligible for Medicaid even though they may be receiving care in a medical facility. For example, a release from a penal institution to a hospital for the birth of the inmate’s child will not terminate inmate status if the inmate is required to return to the penal institution following discharge from the hospital. Inmate status at a penal facility (correctional) begins at the time of confinement.

Residence in the institution is terminated by parole, discharge, release on bond, or whenever the individual is allowed to return and reside in their home. A transfer from a penal facility to the state hospital or another facility, for evaluation or treatment does not terminate inmate status.

 

The Bismarck Transition Center (BTC) is a comprehensive, community-based correctional program designed to help eligible, non-violent offenders transition back into the community.

  1. Individuals entering this facility on a voluntary basis while on probation are not inmates.  

  2. Individuals entering this facility as inmates who are sent to the facility for assessment purposes are committed under the penal system and will be arrested if they leave.  Such individuals are inmates and not eligible for Medicaid.

  1. An individual on conditional release from the state hospital is not considered to be a patient in that institution. However, such an individual who is under age twenty-two and has been receiving inpatient psychiatric services is considered to be a patient in the institution until unconditionally released or, if earlier, the last day of the month in which the patient reaches age twenty-two.

  2. The period of ineligibility under this section begins the day after the day of entry and ends the day before the day of discharge of the individual from such an institution. A Ten-Day Advance Notice is not needed when terminating benefits due to entry into the institution. See Paragraph (4)(c)(iii) of 510-05-25-25, "Decision and Notice," for further information.