Texas Family Code - Section 162.201. Adoption Of Compact; Text
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§ 162.201. ADOPTION OF COMPACT; TEXT. The Interstate
Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance is adopted by this state
and entered into with all other jurisdictions joining in the
compact in form substantially as provided under this subchapter.
INTERSTATE COMPACT ON ADOPTION AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
ARTICLE I. FINDINGS
The legislature finds that:
(a) Finding adoptive families for children for whom
state assistance is desirable, under Subchapter D, Chapter 162, and
assuring the protection of the interest of the children affected
during the entire assistance period require special measures when
the adoptive parents move to other states or are residents of
another state.
(b) The provision of medical and other necessary
services for children, with state assistance, encounters special
difficulties when the provision of services takes place in other
states.
ARTICLE II. PURPOSES
The purposes of the compact are to:
(a) authorize the Department of Protective and
Regulatory Services, with the concurrence of the Health and Human
Services Commission, to enter into interstate agreements with
agencies of other states for the protection of children on behalf of
whom adoption assistance is being provided by the Department of
Protective and Regulatory Services; and
(b) provide procedures for interstate children's
adoption assistance payments, including medical payments.
ARTICLE III. DEFINITIONS
In this compact:
(a) "Adoption assistance state" means the state that
signs an adoption assistance agreement in a particular case.
(b) "Residence state" means the state in which the
child resides by virtue of the residence of the adoptive parents.
(c) "State" means a state of the United States, the
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin
Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or
a territory or possession of or a territory or possession
administered by the United States.
ARTICLE IV. COMPACTS AUTHORIZED
The Department of Protective and Regulatory Services,
through its executive director, is authorized to develop,
participate in the development of, negotiate, and enter into one or
more interstate compacts on behalf of this state with other states
to implement one or more of the purposes of this compact. An
interstate compact authorized by this article has the force and
effect of law.
ARTICLE V. CONTENTS OF COMPACTS
A compact entered into under the authority conferred by this
compact shall contain:
(1) a provision making the compact available for
joinder by all states;
(2) a provision for withdrawal from the compact on
written notice to the parties, with a period of one year between the
date of the notice and the effective date of the withdrawal;
(3) a requirement that protections under the compact
continue for the duration of the adoption assistance and apply to
all children and their adoptive parents who on the effective date of
the withdrawal are receiving adoption assistance from a party state
other than the one in which they reside and have their principal
place of abode;
(4) a requirement that each case of adoption
assistance to which the compact applies be covered by a written
adoption assistance agreement between the adoptive parents and the
state child welfare agency of the state that provides the adoption
assistance and that the agreement be expressly for the benefit of
the adopted child and enforceable by the adoptive parents and the
state agency providing the adoption assistance; and
(5) other provisions that are appropriate for the
proper administration of the compact.
ARTICLE VI. OPTIONAL CONTENTS OF COMPACTS
A compact entered into under the authority conferred by this
compact may contain the following provisions, in addition to those
required under Article V of this compact:
(1) provisions establishing procedures and
entitlement to medical, developmental, child-care, or other social
services for the child in accordance with applicable laws, even if
the child and the adoptive parents are in a state other than the one
responsible for or providing the services or the funds to defray
part or all of the costs thereof; and
(2) other provisions that are appropriate or
incidental to the proper administration of the compact.
ARTICLE VII. MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
(a) A child with special needs who resides in this state and
who is the subject of an adoption assistance agreement with another
state is entitled to receive a medical assistance identification
from this state on the filing in the state medical assistance agency
of a certified copy of the adoption assistance agreement obtained
from the adoption assistance state. In accordance with rules of the
state medical assistance agency, the adoptive parents, at least
annually, shall show that the agreement is still in effect or has
been renewed.
(b) The state medical assistance agency shall consider the
holder of a medical assistance identification under this article as
any other holder of a medical assistance identification under the
laws of this state and shall process and make payment on claims on
the holder's account in the same manner and under the same
conditions and procedures as for other recipients of medical
assistance.
(c) The state medical assistance agency shall provide
coverage and benefits for a child who is in another state and who is
covered by an adoption assistance agreement made by the Department
of Protective and Regulatory Services for the coverage or benefits,
if any, not provided by the residence state. The adoptive parents
acting for the child may submit evidence of payment for services or
benefit amounts not payable in the residence state and shall be
reimbursed for those amounts. Services or benefit amounts covered
under any insurance or other third-party medical contract or
arrangement held by the child or the adoptive parents may not be
reimbursed. The state medical assistance agency shall adopt rules
implementing this subsection. The additional coverage and benefit
amounts provided under this subsection are for services for which
there is no federal contribution or services that, if federally
aided, are not provided by the residence state. The rules shall
include procedures for obtaining prior approval for services in
cases in which prior approval is required for the assistance.
(d) The submission of a false, misleading, or fraudulent
claim for payment or reimbursement for services or benefits under
this article or the making of a false, misleading, or fraudulent
statement in connection with the claim is an offense under this
subsection if the person submitting the claim or making the
statement knows or should know that the claim or statement is false,
misleading, or fraudulent. A person who commits an offense under
this subsection may be liable for a fine not to exceed $10,000 or
imprisonment for not more than two years, or both the fine and the
imprisonment. An offense under this subsection that also
constitutes an offense under other law may be punished under either
this subsection or the other applicable law.
(e) This article applies only to medical assistance for
children under adoption assistance agreements with states that have
entered into a compact with this state under which the other state
provides medical assistance to children with special needs under
adoption assistance agreements made by this state. All other
children entitled to medical assistance under adoption assistance
agreements entered into by this state are eligible to receive the
medical assistance in accordance with the laws and procedures that
apply to the agreement.
ARTICLE VIII. FEDERAL PARTICIPATION
Consistent with federal law, the Department of Protective and
Regulatory Services and the Health and Human Services Commission,
in connection with the administration of this compact or a compact
authorized by this compact, shall include the provision of adoption
assistance and medical assistance for which the federal government
pays some or all of the cost in any state plan made under the
Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (Pub. L. No.
96-272), Titles IV-E and XIX of the Social Security Act, and other
applicable federal laws. The Department of Protective and
Regulatory Services and the Health and Human Services Commission
shall apply for and administer all relevant federal aid in
accordance with law.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 846, § 9, eff. June 16, 1995.
Section: 162.101 162.102 162.103 162.104 162.105 162.106 162.107 162.201 162.202 162.203 162.204 162.205 162.206 162.301 162.302
Last modified: August 11, 2007
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