05/27/2025
Summary
This Manual Release updates the Medical PM/WAG for Asylum Applicants and Torture Victims (AATV) and Victims of Trafficking, Torture or Other Serious Crimes (VTTC).
- New procedures on processing AATV/VTTC cases in IES.
- New policies regarding:
- "Derivative Family Members" (DFM) for VTTC cases
- Verification of status for AATV/VTTC
- Clarification of state funded medical coverage vs. federally funded Medicaid
Previous Policy releases include:
- VTTC Legislative Amendments
- Citizenship/USCIS Status
- Derivative Family Member (DFM) for VTTC
- Application Process
- VTTC before 6/5/2024: Verifying that a Person is Preparing to File for T Visa, U Visa, or Asylum
- VTTC any date: Verifying That a Person Filed for T Visa, U Visa, or Asylum
- MANUAL REVISIONS
Adult noncitizen applicants who do not meet one of the Medicaid qualifying criteria listed in PM 03-01-00: Citizen/USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) Status may be evaluated for eligibility for state-funded health benefits. These specific state-funded health benefits include: Asylum Applicants and Torture Victims (AATV, see PM 06-21-00); Victims of Trafficking and Torture or Other Serious Crimes (VTTC, see PM 06-30-00); and Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults/Seniors (PM 06-35-00 Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults (HBIA); PM 06-36-00 Health Benefits for Immigrant Seniors (HBIS)). Noncitizens denied both federal Medicaid and state-funded health benefits may be eligible to obtain health benefits through the Federal Facilitated Marketplace by applying at Healthcare.gov.
- Note: New enrollment in the HBIA program has been paused as of July 1, 2023. New enrollment in the HBIS program has been paused as of November 7, 2023.
Medicaid ineligible adult noncitizens may also qualify for emergency medical treatment (see PM 06-05-00) concurrently with state-funded health benefits. Both of these programs are state funded.
Note: Undocumented noncitizen children up to and including the age of 18 do not have to meet immigration requirements to qualify for All Kids Assist. They must be Illinois residents. (See PM 03-01-02-j and PM 03-01-02-k).
VTTC Legislative Amendments
Eligibility factors for state-funded VTTC benefits contained in the Survivor Support and Trafficking Prevention statute, 305 ILCS 5/16-2, have been amended with an effective date of June 5, 2024.
Requirements for applications dated before June 5, 2024:
- Illinois residency; and
- Verification that they have filed or are preparing/intending to file for a T Visa, a U Visa, or asylum; and
- Meet financial factors of eligibility.
Requirements for applications dated on or after June 5, 2024:
- Illinois residency; and
- Have a child or other derivative family member;
- Verification that they have filed for a T Visa, a U Visa, or asylum; and
- Meet financial factors of eligibility.
Note: Any redeterminations with a beginning certification period after 6/5/2024 will have these new eligibility requirements.
The June 5, 2024, amendments changed VTTC eligibility in the following ways:
- Does not allow for a single adult applicant. An adult without any children, spouse, or another derivate family member, as defined in the DFM section below, is no longer eligible.
- An applicant must have filed for a T Visa, a U Visa, or asylum. Applicants preparing/intending to file for a T Visa, a U Visa, or asylum are no longer eligible
Note: Single adult applicants may be eligible under AATV.
Citizenship/USCIS Status
VTTC
To qualify for VTTC assistance with an application date before 6/5/2024, at least one individual in the household must have filed or is intending/preparing to file for:
- Non-immigrant T Visa;
- Non-immigrant U Visa; or
- Asylum.
To qualify for VTTC assistance with an application date on or after 6/5/2024, at least one individual in the household must have filed for:
- Non-immigrant T Visa;
- Non-immigrant U Visa; or
- Asylum.
Note: Applications on or after 6/5/2024 must have filed for their T Visa, U Visa, or Asylum. The provision for 'intending/preparing to file' has been removed.
AATV
To qualify for AATV assistance, an individual must have an application for asylum pending, an appeal pending regarding a decision of asylum, or be receiving treatment services for torture from a federally funded torture treatment center.
- Acceptable proof of a pending asylum application is described in WAG 03-01-04-a.
Note: Individuals who meet the Citizenship/USCIS status for VTTC or AATV assistance must also meet all other financial and non-financial eligibility factors.
Derivative Family Member (DFM) for VTTC
Derivate Family Members (DFM) are defined as parents, children, siblings under 18 years of age, and spouses if the marriage happened before the main VTTC applicant came to the U.S.
Applications dated before 6/5/2024 can be filed as a single individual without any derivative family members or children. Applicants on or after 6/5/2024 must have an accompanying derivative family members or children to qualify for VTTC benefits.
Note: Applicants without DFMs or otherwise single adults may still qualify for AATV benefits, which do not allow for DFMs.
The principal victim would be the HOH in the IES Case, and the family members included in the principal's application for visa/asylum must be listed on the Individual Household page.
Derivatives who are listed on the principal victim's USCIS application for Asylum, T Visa, or U Visa are eligible for VTTC when the principal victim, who is the head of household VTTC applicant, is found to be eligible.
On the Noncitizen Details screen the individual must be denoted as "Undocumented" for the drop-down selections below to become enabled. This section triggers the eligibility flow for the state-funded noncitizen programs.
If the HOH has a spouse (prior to entering the U.S.), child, parent, or sibling under age 18 in the same household, on this screen, answer YES to the question, "Individual has Derivative Family Members?"
This question belongs to the HOH, who is the principal victim and applicant. For the other family members to be considered for benefits as Derivative Family Members, these steps must be followed. Entering derivative family members under any other member of the household will not trigger eligibility to consider them for VTTC benefits.
Once "YES" is selected, the "Derivative Family Members" page in IES will be enabled upon clicking "Save + Continue".
The IES "Derivative Family Members" page has drop-down selections based on the household members previously listed on the Individual Household page. There are "Begin" and "End" dates because IES has a check that prevents the same individual from being a DFM on multiple cases.
For further guidance on entering Derivative Family Members in IES, see IES Wizard: Record Derivative Family Members.
Note: AATV does not allow for Derivative Family Member eligibility.
Application Process
The application date will be the date the Department receives a signed application as described in PM 02-04-06. Medical eligibility may be backdated up to three months before the month of application if the applicant has met the criteria for the backdated months.
IES updated State-funded medical program eligibility rules as of December 2023. To distinguish between applicants before and after 6/5/2024, new IES eligibility rules will be implemented to comply with the legislative amendments to VTTC.
A noncitizen who does not qualify for a federally funded medical program is progressed as follows:
Note: HBIA/HBIS programs are currently not accepting new applications.
- There are federal programs that can co-exist with state-funded programs, such as Emergency Medical/Renal, meaning an individual may have more than one medical program on the same case for the same individual.
IES 'Non-Citizens Details' Page Updates
An AATV/VTTC individual must be denoted as "UNDOCUMENTED" in the 'Non-citizen Admission Status' field, although they might have documentation that shows their relevant pending AATV/VTTC application.
Marking "Undocumented" will enable the required AATV/VTTC questions. If the field is mistakenly marked "Documented", the necessary AATV/VTTC fields will be disabled.
Upon marking the individual as "Undocumented," the 'Asylum/Torture Victim (AATV) and Asylum, T or U Visa (VTTC) Primary Victim Information' fields will be enabled. One of the following fields must be selected as "Yes" along with the proper verification from the associated verification field.
Note: Only one field may be selected as "Yes", although an individual may fit more than one category. The best practice is for workers to reference the above eligibility flow chart to ensure the most beneficial program for that customer will result in certification.
After selecting "Yes" to one of the above fields, the worker will select the appropriate verification.
Please review any changes in a customer's documented status at redetermination. For example, if a customer obtains their T Visa, U Visa, or asylum status, they should be transitioned to a "Documented" status.
VTTC before 6/5/2024: Verifying that a Person is Preparing to File for T Visa, U Visa, or Asylum
When an applicant is preparing to file for a T Visa, U Visa, or Asylum, the following two verifications are required:
1. A signed sworn statement that the individual is a foreign-born victim of trafficking, torture, or other serious crimes;
- Example of a sufficient signed sworn statement: "[NAME], am/is a foreign-born victim of trafficking, torture, or other serious crimes" [WRITTEN SIGNATURE].
- Details of the "trafficking, torture, or other serious crimes" should not be requested.
- Other serious crimes include but are not limited to: rape, incest, abusive sexual contact, prostitution, sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, being held hostage, involuntary servitude, debt servitude, slave trade, kidnapping, abduction, unlawful criminal restraint, false imprisonment, extortion or felonious assault, manslaughter or murder.
AND
2. One item of credible evidence, including but not limited to any of the following:
- police, government agency, or court records, or files;
- news articles;
- documentation from a social service, trafficking, domestic violence program or rape crisis center, or a legal, clinical medical professional, or other professional from whom the applicant or recipient has sought assistance in dealing with the crime;
- a written statement from any other individual with knowledge of the circumstances that provided the basis for the claim;
- physical evidence;
- a copy of a completed visa application (Ex: I-914, Application for T Non-immigrant Status, I-914, Supplement A, Application for Immediate Family Member, I-918, Petition for U Non-immigrant Status, I-918, Supplement A, Petition for Qualifying Family Member of U-1 Recipient, or I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal); or
- a written notice from the federal agency of receipt of the visa application.
Note: An applicant who is unable to provide an additional item of credible evidence may qualify with only a sworn statement if the Department determines the applicant to be credible.
VTTC any date: Verifying That a Person Filed for T Visa, U Visa, or Asylum
When the applicant has indicated they have filed an application for a T Visa, U Visa, or Asylum, accept proof the application has been filed.
- This can be before or after 6/5/2024.
The above listed sworn statement is NOT required for VTTC applicants who have already filed an application for a T Visa, U Visa, or Asylum.
T Visa - any one of the following suffices to verify that a person filed for T Visa.
- USCIS Form I-797 Notice of Action - review to determine status of application.
- Issued to communicate receipt, approval or rejection of an applications or petitions.
- Copy of "filed" I-914 application for T Visa submitted to USCIS; or
- Other credible evidence. Examples include any of the following:
- Documentation from a social service, trafficking, domestic violence program or rape crisis center, or a legal, or other professional from whom the applicant or recipient has sought assistance;
- Printouts of case status queries from the USCIS website;
- A copy of a completed visa application;
- A written notice from the federal agency of receipt of the visa application;
- Review correspondence from USCIS regarding applications, such as appointment notices and requests for evidence (RFEs).
U Visa - any one of the following suffices to verify that a person filed for U Visa.
- USCIS Form I-797 Notice of Action - review to determine status of application.
- Issued to communicate receipt, approval or rejection of an applications or petitions.
- Copy of "filed" I-918 application for U Visa submitted to USCIS; or
- Other credible evidence. Examples include any of the following:
- Documentation from a social service, trafficking, domestic violence program or rape crisis center, or a legal, or other professional from whom the applicant or recipient has sought assistance;
- Printouts of case status queries from the USCIS website;
- A copy of a completed visa application;
- A written notice from the federal agency of receipt of the visa application;
- Review correspondence from USCIS regarding applications, such as appointment notices and Requests for Evidence (RFEs).
Asylum - any one of the following suffices to verify that a Person Filed for Asylum.
- USCIS Form I-797 Notice of Action - review to determine status of application.
- Issued to communicate receipt, approval or rejection of an applications or petitions.
- Copy of "filed" I-589 application for Asylum submitted to USCIS; or
- Other credible evidence. Examples include any of the following:
- Documentation from a social service, trafficking, domestic violence program or rape crisis center, or a legal, or other professional from whom the applicant or recipient has sought assistance;
- Printouts of case status queries from the USCIS website;
- A copy of a completed visa application;
- A written notice from the federal agency of receipt of the visa application;
- Review correspondence from USCIS regarding applications, such as appointment notices and Requests for Evidence (RFEs).
MANUAL REVISIONS
[signed copy on file]
Dulce M. Quintero
Secretary, Illinois Department of Human Services
Elizabeth M. Whitehorn
Director, Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services
