County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSA MediCal Program Guide Safe Arms For Newborns Number Page 052001 1 of 3 Revision Date 05012018 Background The Safe Arms for Newborns Law was enacted to provide for the health and safety of unwanted newborn children Under this law any child less than seventytwo hours old who is voluntarily surrendered to an employee on duty at a public or private hospital emergency room will be determined eligible to MediCal The law also requires that the hospital taking physical custody provide a medical screening examination and any necessary medical care to the child Included with the reformatting this section is being updated to include application process clarifications issued in ACWDL 0326E Purpose This section provides instructions regarding the processing of cases under the Safe Arms for Newborns Law Policy The Department of Health Care Services DHCS has issued instructions for hospitals and for county MediCal eligibility staff regarding the Safe Arms for Newborn Law A Hospital Instructions DHCS has instructed hospitals as follows Upon taking physical custody of surrendered newborns give these children a medical screening examination and provide them any necessary medical care The hospital employee taking physical custody of the newborn must enter the identification number from the childs hospital ankle bracelet in the ID number field in the top right corner of the MC 356 SAFE ARMS FOR NEWBORNS Medical Questionnaire The hospital taking physical custody of the newborn must offer the person surrendering custody the MC 356 The person surrendering the child is not required to complete or return the MC 356 The parent names may not be requested A hospital that receives a surrendered newborn must initiate a request for MediCal for that child no later than the following business day B County Instructions DHCS has instructed counties as follows County eligibility staff are responsible for completing the application and SOF When actual names and birth dates are unavailable use the health facility identification information and estimated date of birth if available in establishing the MediCal eligibility record For the purposes of this program assume that the newborn is a United States citizen A child support referral to the Department of Child Support Enforcement is not required Upon granting provide the health facility with the information necessary to obtain reimbursement for care provided to the newborn as soon as eligibility is established County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSA MediCal Program Guide Safe Arms For Newborns Number Page 052001 2 of 3 C Period of Eligibility Under this law eligibility begins the day of surrender and extends through the last day of the following month However if a child is surrendered on the last day of the month eligibility may continue through the third month For example if a child is surrendered to a hospital on the March 15 eligibility extends through April 30 If the surrender date is March 31 eligibility may be extended through May 31 In no circumstance will coverage under this category extend past the last day of the third month Newborns determined eligible to the Safe Arms for Newborns Program are not eligible to continuing MediCal benefits through the Deemed Eligibility Program for infants or the Continuous Eligibility for Children Program Continuing eligibility for the child will be established under normal program criteria at the time that the child either enters the foster care system or is placed with a responsible relative or caretaker D Aid Code These children are to be placed in a new zero share of cost aid code 2A This aid code will be used by DHCS to track cases opened under the Safe Arms for Newborn Law E Surrendered Newborns Not Covered Under the Safe Arms for Newborns Program Surrendered newborn babies not covered under the Safe Arms for Newborns Program are handled on a casebycase basis using formerly established procedures Refer to Desk Aid 87 for case examples Procedure F County Required Action When processing a request for MediCal for a surrendered newborn less than seventytwo hours old and the actual name and date of birth of the newborn are unavailable complete the application and SOF as an immediate need using the hospital identification information and estimated date of birth For example if the hospital has assigned a name for identification purposes such as Baby Doe BBB or Abandoned Baby AAA these are acceptable and searchable on MEDS Names cannot contain numbers only letters can be used Important Note Treat these cases as confidential cases Do Not use parents name social security number or dates of births if known The case number assigned is not to be used once Safe Arms for Newborns eligibility ends Do Not bank these cases to continuing Intake is responsible for holding the case for the period of eligibility Program Impacts Automation In the Selected group box for all programs click the Emergency checkbox Then select the Safe Arms for New Borns Benefits checkbox References ACWDLs 0148 0326 0326E County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency HHSA MediCal Program Guide Safe Arms For Newborns Number Page 052001 3 of 3 Sunset Date This policy will be reviewed for continuance by 05312021 Approval for Release Rick Wanne Director Eligibility Operations