Page 32
services provided outside of the facility. Residence in a correctional facility begins on the date of incarceration and continues until the date the person is released from the correctional facility. A person transferred from a correctional facility to a hospital for part or all of the sentencing period is considered to be still living in the correctional facility for general eligibility purposes, unless the exemption for Medicaid coverage of inpatient and emergency care applies. e. Verification. Self-attestation of incarceration is accepted initially and then verified through information exchanges with the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (DOC). In addition, electronic data matches with DOC records are conducted on a regular basis in conjunction with the post-eligibility verification process. 4. Citizenship and Immigration Status – Immigration and citizenship status affect Community Medicaid eligibility as follows: a. Citizen or Qualified Non-citizen. An applicant for coverage in one (1) of the IHCC groups must be a United States citizen or a lawfully present “qualified” non-citizen immigrant who has been in the U.S. for five (5) years or more. Lawfully present qualified non-citizens include persons in the U.S. as legal permanent residents (LPR), with humanitarian statuses or as a result of such circumstances (e.g., refugees, asylum applicants, temporary protected status), valid non-immigrant visas, and legal status conferred by other Federal laws (temporary resident, LIFE Act, Pub. Law No. 106-553 and 106-554, Family Unity Act, 8 C.F.R. Part 236 Subpart B (2023), etc.). There are exceptions in Federal law and, more generally, under the Rhode Island Medicaid Program which permit qualified non-citizens who might otherwise be subject to the bar to obtain Medicaid health coverage. These exceptions are located in Part 30- 00-1 of this Title. General exceptions specific to Rhode Island are as follows: (1) Pregnant people are eligible if they meet all other requirements regardless of immigration status. (2) Children under age nineteen (19) are not subject to any of the eligibility requirements related to citizenship and immigration status. b. Non-qualified Non-citizen. With the exception of pregnant people, adult “non-qualified” non-citizens are not eligible for Medicaid. Non- qualified non-citizens are persons from other nations who are not considered to be immigrants under current Federal law, including those in the United States on a time-limited visa (such as visitors or