1. (a) Use of services is voluntary. Acceptance or refusal of services does not affect eligibility for or receipt of any other Medicaid services, or for future case management services.
2. (b) All records about a client are considered confidential information, in accordance with the standards and requirements described in §257.9 of this subchapter (relating to Client Confidentiality).

3. (c) A client has the right to:

   1. (1) actively participate in case management decisions, including the right to refuse services from a case manager;
   2. (2) receive services free from abuse or harm from a case manager;
   3. (3) have freedom of choice to choose a provider in the client's county of residence or service area, as applicable;
   4. (4) have freedom to request a transfer to another available case manager at any time; and
   5. (5) except as described in subsection (d) of this section, request a fair hearing, conducted in accordance with the rules in 1 TAC, Chapter 357, Subchapter A (relating to Uniform Fair Hearing Rules), within 90 days after receiving written notification that services have been denied, reduced, suspended, or terminated.

4. (d) A client receiving Case Management for Children and Pregnant Women services through a Medicaid managed care organization (MCO) must:

   1. (1) use the MCO's complaint and appeal procedure as prescribed in 1 TAC §353.415 (relating to Member Complaint and Appeal Procedures); and
   2. (2) exhaust internal MCO appeals before requesting a fair hearing as described in subsection (c)(5) of this section.

Source Note:The provisions of this §257.7 adopted to be effective May 29, 2025, 50 TexReg 3129.