N.Y. Social Services Law § 454: Medical subsidy

§ 454. Medical subsidy. 1. A social services official shall make

payments for the cost of care, services and supplies payable under the

state's program of medical assistance for needy persons, provided to a

handicapped child whom he or a voluntary authorized agency has placed

out for adoption or who has been adopted. Such payments shall not be

restricted to care, services and supplies required for the treatment of

the specific condition or disability for which a child was determined to

be a handicapped child. For the purposes of this section, a handicapped

child shall include, but not be limited to, a child with special needs

where a social services official has determined the child cannot be

placed with an adoptive parent or parents without medical subsidy

because such child has special needs for medical, mental health or

rehabilitative care. Such payments also shall be made with respect to a

hard to place child who has been placed out for adoption with a person

or persons who is or are sixty-two years old or over or who will be

subject to mandatory retirement from his or their present employment

within five years from the date of the adoption placement.

2. Payments pursuant to subdivision one of this section shall be made

to or on behalf of the person or persons with whom the child has been

placed or who have adopted the child and shall be made without regard to

the financial need of such person or persons.

3. Payments pursuant to subdivision one of this section shall be made

only with respect to the cost of care, services and supplies which are

not otherwise covered or subject to payment or reimbursement by

insurance, medical assistance or other sources.

4. An application for payment under this section shall be made prior

to the child's adoption; provided, however, that an application may be

made subsequent to a handicapped child's adoption if the adoptive

parents first become aware of the child's physical or emotional

condition or disability subsequent to the adoption and a physician

certifies that the condition or disability existed prior to the child's

adoption. An approval of an application for payments under this section

shall not be subject to annual review by the social services official,

and such approval shall remain in effect until the child's twenty-first

birthday. Applications for such subsidies shall be accepted prior to the

commitment of the guardianship and custody of the child to an authorized

agency pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, and approval thereof

may be granted contingent upon such commitment.

5. Upon the death of persons who have adopted the child prior to the

twenty-first birthday of the child, payments pursuant to subdivision one

of this section shall continue to the legal guardian of the child until

the child shall attain the age of twenty-one.