360-4.3 Available income.
(a) Available income of an MA applicant/ recipient will be determined
as follows:
(1) All earned and unearned income received
during the month will be considered. In determining the amount of earned and unearned
income, allowable business expenses will be deducted, as described in subdivisions (c) and
(d) of this section.
(2) Certain types of in-kind income will be
deducted as described in subdivision (e) of this section.
(3) Income deemed available from legally
responsible relatives will be added, as described in subdivision (f) of this section.
(4) Income allocated to dependent family
members will be deducted. The amount remaining after the calculations in paragraphs (1)
through (4) of this subdivision are made is the applicant's/recipient's available income.
(b) Types of income.
(1) Income means any payment from any source.
It includes payments of money, goods, or services. It includes payments made on a one-time
basis and on a recurring basis. It includes both earned and unearned income. Income
received by an MA applicant/recipient is counted in the month in which it is received when
determining MA eligibility. Resources, however, may be retained from month to month up to
the levels exempted in section 360-4.7(a) of this Subpart.
(2) Earned income is income received as a
result of working. Earned income includes, but is not limited to, wages, salaries, tips,
commissions, bonuses and income from self-employment or a small business.
(3) Unearned income is income that is not
received as compensation for work performed. Unearned income includes, but is not limited
to, pensions, benefits, dividends, interest and insurance compensation.
(4) In-kind income is income received in goods
or services rather than in money. In-kind income can be earned or unearned.
(c) Income from self-employment or small business. Income from a
person's self-employment or from a small business owned and operated by the person, after
allowable business expenses are deducted, is considered available earned income. The
following allowable business expenses may generally be deducted:
(1) rental of quarters and equipment;
(2) salaries and fringe benefits of employees;
(3) cost of goods for re-sale;
(4) business taxes, licenses and permits;
(5) cost of tools, supplies and raw materials;
(6) insurance for the business;
(7) lights, heat, water, sewage and telephone
charges;
(8) advertising and travel;
(9) taxes and carrying charges on any property
used in the business (other than payments on the principal of a mortgage);
(10) for aged, certified blind, or certified
disabled applicants/recipients, depreciation costs for buildings, equipment and materials
necessary for and directly related to the operation of the business; and
(11) any other expense necessary for and
directly related to the operation of the business.
(d) Income from rental of property.
(1) Income received from the rental of a
person's real or personal property, after allowable business expenses are deducted, is
considered available income of the person. For persons under 21 years of age, pregnant
women, persons ineligible for ADC solely because their income and/or resources are above
the amounts allowed for ADC eligibility, and parents described in section 360-3.3(b)(7) of
this Part, such income will be considered earned income. For persons 56 years of age or
older, certified blind, or certified disabled, such income will be considered unearned
income. The following business expenses are deductible:
(i) property, school,
water and sewer taxes;
(ii) the cost of
utilities if they are included in the rent;
(iii) interest payments
on mortgages for the property (but not payments on the principal of the mortgage);
(iv) the cost of
essential repairs on the property (but not the cost of improvements to the property);
(v) wages paid to
employees for maintaining the property; and
(vi) any other expenses
necessary for the maintenance of the property.
(2) A person renting out a portion of his/her
homestead, as defined in section 360-1.4(f) of this Part, may deduct the business expenses
listed in paragraph (1) of this subdivision to the extent that they are attributable to
the rented portion of the property.
(3) When a person lives in income-producing
property that is not a homestead, a reasonable rental allowance for the portion occupied
by the person must be added to the total rental income before deducting allowable business
expenses.
(e) In-kind income.
(1) Earned or unearned in-kind income received
from legally responsible relatives living outside the MA household is considered available
income pursuant to subdivision (f) of this section. In-kind income received from anyone
other than a legally responsible relative is considered available income only if it is
earned income. Gifts and one-time contributions are not considered available income,
regardless of the source; however, they can be counted against the resource standard.
(2) The value of in-kind income will be
determined based on the current market value of the goods or services received. The
current market value is the amount that would be received if the goods or services were
sold on the open market in the applicant's/recipient's local area. However, the value of
housing provided as in-kind income will be the current market value of the housing or the
social services district's maximum shelter allowance, whichever is less.
(f) Legally responsible relatives.
(1) This paragraph explains when the income and
resources of a legally responsible relative is considered available to an MA
applicant/recipient. Legally responsible relative is defined in section 360-1.4(h).
(i) Legally responsible relative living with an MA
applicant/recipient who is not an institutionalized spouse as defined in section 360-4.10
of this Subpart. A portion of the
(ii) Legally
responsible relative living apart from non- institutionalized MA applicant/recipient. The
legally responsible relative, if of sufficient financial ability, will be asked to
contribute a portion of his/her income and resources to the MA applicant/recipient.
Regardless of the amount of any requested contribution, only the amount that the legally
responsible relative actually contributes to the non-institutionalized MA
applicant/recipient will be considered available when determining MA eligibility. However,
the social services district may seek to recover the cost of any MA provided from the
legally responsible relative pursuant to sections 101 and 366(3)(a) of the Social Services
Law.
(iii) Spouses living
apart due to institutionalization of one spouse. The ability of the community spouse to
contribute income to the institutionalized spouse's cost of care will be determined in
accordance with section 360-4.10(b) of this Subpart. The availability of the community
spouse's resources will be determined in accordance with section 360-4.10(c) of this
Subpart.
(iv) Parents of a child
under the age of 21 who is certified blind or certified disabled and who is expected to be
living separately from the parental household for 30 days or more, will not be requested
to make their income and resources available to meet the cost of the child's necessary
care or assistance, or to provide information concerning their income and resources.
(2) (i) The social services
district must request a legally responsible relative, other than a community spouse as
defined in section 360-4.10 of this Subpart, to contribute any excess resources toward the
support of the MA applicant/recipient.
(ii) In determining the
amount of contribution to be requested, legally responsible relatives who are not aged,
certified blind, or certified disabled will be allowed the resource disregard in section
360-4.6(b)(1) of this Subpart and the standard resource exemptions listed in section
360-4.7(a) of this Subpart. Legally responsible relatives who are aged, certified blind,
or certified disabled will be allowed the resource disregards in section 360-4.6(b) of
this Subpart and the standard resource exemptions listed in section 360-4.7(a) of this
Subpart.