360-4.6 Net available income and resources. Not all of the income and resources
available to an applicant/recipient is counted in determining his/her financial
eligibility for MA. Certain types and amounts of income and resources are disregarded.
After these disregards have been applied, what remains is the applicant's/recipient's net
available income and resources. This section lists the types and amounts of income and
resource disregards.
(a) Income disregards.
(1) Disregards applicable to all MA
applicants/recipients:
(i) any payment
received under Title II of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition
Policies Act of 1970;
(ii) any loan made to a
family under Title III of the federal Economic Opportunity Act;
(iii) federal energy
assistance payments;
(iv) payments received
by foster parents for care of foster children;
(v) the value of garden
produce or livestock when used solely by the applicant/recipient and dependents;
(vi) the value of free
school lunches;
(vii) the value of
other free meals, except when more than one meal per day is furnished or when the
applicant/recipient receives an allowance for meals away from home;
(viii) the value of
food stamp coupons;
(ix) the value of
federally donated foods;
(x) the value of WIC
benefits;
(xi) payments made to
participants in the Retired Senior Volunteer Program under the Domestic Volunteer Services
Act for services provided to adults who have exceptional needs;
(xii) payments made to
participants in the Foster Grandparent Program under the Domestic Volunteer Services Act;
(xiii) payments made to
compensate for expenses incident to employment under subparagraph (xi) or (xii) of this
paragraph;
(xiv) adoption subsidy
payments;
(xv) payments made to
volunteers under the VISTA program;
(xvi) any support and
maintenance provided based on need according to subdivision 352.22(s) of this Title;
(xvii) income from
roomers/boarders. The first $90 per month of any income received from a person living in
the home who is not a member of the family household. If the family can document
out-of-pocket expenses greater than $90 per month incurred in providing room and board,
these documented expenses will be disregarded;
(xviii) any portion of
a grant, scholarship or fellowship used for tuition, fees, or other necessary educational
expenses (excluding general living expenses);
(xix) regular cash
assistance payments based on need and furnished as supplemental income by the federal
government, a state or political subdivision;
(xx) payments provided
as a preventive housing service under subdivision 423.4(l) of this Title;
(xxi) benefits paid to
eligible Japanese-Americans or Aleuts under the federal Civil Liberties Act of 1988 and
the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Act;
(xxii) payments made
from the Agent Orange Settlement Fund or any other fund established pursuant to the
settlement in the In re Agent Orange product liability litigation, and payments received
from court proceedings brought for personal injuries sustained by veterans resulting from
exposure to dioxin or phenoxy herbicides in connnection with the war in Indochina in the
period of January 1, 1962 through May 7, 1975;
(xxiii) payments made
for child care services, or the value of any child care services provided to a recipient
of employment-related and JOBS-related child care services, transitional child care
services, at-risk low income child care services or child care and development block grant
services; and
(xxiv) payments made
for child care services, or the value of any child care services provided to a recipient
of employment-related and JOBS-related child care services, transitional child care
services, at-risk low income child care services or child care and development block grant
services; and
(xxv) bona fide loans,
as described in section 352.22 of this Title;
(xxvi) any federal
major disaster and emergency assistance provided under the Disaster Relief Act of 1974
(P.L. 93-288), as amended by the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Amendments of
1988 (P.L. 100-707), and any comparable disaster assistance provided by states, local
governments, and disaster assistance organizations;
(xxvii) distributions
to Native Americans of funds appropriated in satisfaction of judgments of the Indian
Claims Commission or the United States Court of Federal Claims;
(xxviii) up to $2,000
per year of income from interests of individual Native Americans in trust or restricted
lands, from funds appropriated in satisfaction of Indian Claims Commission or United
States Court of Federal Claims; and
(xxix) any other income
that a federal law or regulation requires to be disregarded.
(2) Additional disregards applicable to MA
applicants/recipients who are 65 years of age or older, certified blind or certified
disabled. These disregards are to be applied in the following order:
(i) [Reserved]
(ii) all reparations
payments received from the Federal Republic or Germany;
(iii) the first $20 per
month of any unearned income. Only one $20 disregard is permitted per couple. A certified
blind or certified disabled child living with parents is entitled to a separate $20
disregard from his/her total unearned income. If a person's unearned income is under $20,
the balance will be deducted from earned income;
(iv) the first $65 of
earned income;
(v) for disabled MA
applicants/ recipients, non-medical, impairment-related work expenses;
(vi) one-half of the
remaining earned income after the disregards listed in subparagraphs (ii), (iii), (iv) and
(v) of this paragraph have been applied;
(vii) health insurance
premiums;
(viii) aid and
attendance benefits and housebound benefits received from the Veterans Administration;
(ix) any refund
received from a public agency of taxes paid on real estate or food purchases;
(x) infrequently or
irregularly received income up to $20 of unearned income per month and $10 of earned
income per month;
(xi) for persons who
are certified blind, all remaining reasonable work-related expenses, after the disregards
set forth in subparagraphs (i)-(xi) of this paragraph are applied;
(xii) one-third of any
support payments received by a certified blind or certified disabled child from an absent
parent;
(xiii) any payments
made under the federal Vocational Rehabilitation Act;
(xiv) income, up to
$1,200 per calendar quarter but no more than $1,620 per calendar year, earned by a child
under 22 years of age who is regularly attending a school, college, university, or a
course of vocational or technical training;
(xv) [Reserved]
(xvi) home energy
assistance payments which are based on financial need;
(xvii) interest earned
on excluded burial funds and appreciation in the value of an excluded burial arrangement
which are to become part of the separately identifiable burial fund;
(xviii) any assistance
to an individual (other than wages or salaries) under the federal Older Americans Act of
1965);
(xix) retroactive
benefits under the SSI program;
(xx) payments received
from a fund established by a state to aid victims of crime;
(xxi) relocation
assistance received on or after May 1, 1991 that is provided by a state or local
government and is comparable to assistance provided under title II of the Uniform
Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisitions Policies Act of 1970 which is subject
to the treatment required by section 216 of such Act;
(xxii) payments made by
the Austrian government under paragraphs 500 to 506 of the Austrian General Social
Insurance Act provided that the payments remain identifiable as such;
(xxiii) income received
from hostile fire pay (pursuant to section 310 of title 37, United States Code) received
while in active military service; and
(xxiv) for certified
blind or certified disabled persons under 65 years of age, and for certified blind or
certified disabled persons age 65 or over who received SSI payments or aid under the State
Plan for the certified blind or certified disabled for the month preceding the month of
their 65th birthday, any remaining countable income may be set aside for a plan to achieve
self-support. The plan must:
(a) be current, in writing and approved by the local commissioner of social services for
not more than 18 months, with the possibility of an extension for an additional 18 months.
A second extension for an additional 12 months may be allowed in order to fulfill a
lengthy educational or training program;
(b) specify planned savings and/or expenditures to achieve a designated feasible
occupational objective and a specific period of time to achieve the objective;
(c) provide for the identification and segregation of money and goods, if any, being
accumulated and saved; and
(d) be followed by the individual.
(3) Additional disregards applicable to needy
individuals under 21, pregnant women, persons ineligible for ADC solely because their
income and resources exceed the ADC eligibility standards, and parents described in
section 360-3.3(b)(7) of this Part. These disregards are to be applied in the following
order:
(i) the first $90 of
earned income;
(ii) all of the earned
income of a child under 21 who is attending a school, college or university or vocational
or technical training designed to prepare a person for gainful employment will be
disregarded if the student is employed part-time. If a full-time student is employed
full-time, his/her income will be disregarded for up to six months in a calendar year;
(iii) after the
disregards in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph have been applied, $30 plus
one-third of the remainder of monthly earned income will be disregarded for four
consecutive months, and $30 per month will be disregarded for an additional eight months
after that. This disregard will apply only if:
(a) the applicant received ADC payments in one of the four preceding months;
(b) the period of four consecutive months in which the $30 plus one-third disregard is
applied includes any period in which the disregard was applied under the ADC program
according to section 352.20 of this Title;
(c) the additional eight-month period begins with the month following the fourth
consecutive month that the $30 plus one-third disregard was applied, and ends with the
eighth consecutive month regardless of whether the $30 disregard is actually applied to
the person's earned income; and
(d) except as provided in this subparagraph, the disregard is applied in the same manner
and subject to the same restrictions as the disregard provided to ADC applicants.
Subdivisions 352.20(c), (d) and (e) of this Title explain the ADC disregard;
(iv) for individuals
employed full-time throughout the month, an amount equal to the actual cost, but not to
exceed $175, for the care of each dependent child two years of age or older or
incapacitated adult living in the same home and receiving assistance, and an amount equal
to the actual cost, but not to exceed $200, for the care of each dependent child under two
years of age living in the same home and receiving assistance; for those individuals
working less than full-time or not employed throughout the month, an amount equal to the
actual cost, but less than $175, for the care of each dependent child or incapacitated
adult, and an amount equal to the actual cost, but less than $200, for each dependent
child under two years of age;
(v) the first $50 of
any child or spousal support payments received in a month;
(vi) money received by
a family based on the enrollment of a youth in the Job Corps under the Job Training
Partnership Act;
(vii) health insurance
premiums; and
(viii) for a person
providing family day dare for children other than his/her own, $5 per day for each such
child.
(b) Resource disregards.
(1) Burial funds of MA applicants/recipients
and their families will be disregarded as follows:
(i) for needy
individuals under 21 years of age and persons ineligible for ADC solely because their
income and resources are above eligibility limits, a burial fund will be disregarded if it
is separately identifiable as a contractual funeral agreement with a maximum equity value
of $1,500 per family member; and
(ii) for persons 65
years of age or older, certified blind or certified disabled, and for spouses of such
persons, a burial fund of up to $1,500 will be disregarded if the funds are separately
identifiable and monitored as a burial fund, even if such funds are combined with other
funds of the applicant/recipient. Such burial fund will be made up first of any life
insurance policies with a face value of $1,500 or less.
(2) For MA applicants/recipients who are 65
years of age or older, certified blind, or certified disabled, the following additional
resources will be disregarded:
(i) all property which
is contiguous to the applicant's/recipient's homestead. The term homestead is defined in
subdivision 360-1.4(f) of this title. Contiguous property is the land adjoining the
homestead and the buildings located on such land. To be considered contiguous, the land
must adjoin the plot on which the home is located and must not be separated from it by
intervening real property owned by others. Property will be considered to adjoin other
property if the only intervening real property is an easement or public right-of-way such
as a street, road, or utility line;
(ii) life insurance
policies with a combined face value of $1,500 or less;
(iii) on or after
September 1, 1987, pension funds belonging to an ineligible or non-applying legally
responsible relative which are held in individual retirement accounts or in work-related
pension plans, including plans for self-employed individuals such as Keogh plans. However,
amounts disbursed from a pension fund to a pensioner are income to the pensioner which
will be considered in the deeming process;
(iv) reparation
payments received from the Republic of Germany provided that the reparation payments
remain identifiable as such;
(v) for a period of
nine months following the month of receipt, retroactive SSI and Social Security benefits
received during the period of October 1, 1987 through September 30, 1989; for a period of
six months following the month of receipt, retroactive SSI and Social Security benefits
received on or after October 1, 1989;
(vi) for a period of
nine months following the month of receipt, payments received from a fund established by a
state to aid victims of crime;
(vii) for a period of
nine months following the month of receipt, relocation assistance provided by a state or
local government that is received on or after May 1, 1991 and is comparable to assistance
provided under title II of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property
Acquisitions Policies Act of 1970 which is subject to the treatment required by section
216 of such Act; and
(viii) payments made by
the Austrian government under paragraphs 500 to 506 of the Austrian General Social
Insurance Act provided that the payments remain identifiable as such.
(3) For certified blind or certified disabled
MA applicants/recipients under 65 years of age, and for certified blind or certified
disabled MA applicants/recipients age 65 or over who received SSI payments or aid under
the State Plan for the blind or disabled for the month preceding the month of their 65th
birthday, any remaining countable resources may be set aside for a plan to achieve
self-support in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph (a)(2)(xxi) of this
section.
(4) For all MA applicants/recipients, payments
provided as a preventive housing service under subdivision 423.4(l) of this Title will be
disregarded.
(5) A child's savings account of under $500
accumulated from gifts from non-legally responsible relatives or from the child's own
wages will be disregarded in determining eligibility.
(6) Benefits received by eligible
Japanese-Americans or Aleuts under the federal Civil Liberties Act of 1988 or the Aleutian
and Pribilof Islands Restitution Act will be disregarded.
(7) For all MA applicants/recipients, payments
provided from the Agent Orange Settlement Fund, from any other fund established pursuant
to the settlement in the In re Agent Orange product liability litigation, or from court
proceedings brought for personal injuries sustained by veterans resulting from exposure to
dioxin or phenoxy herbicides in connection with the war in Indochina in the period of
January 1, 1962 through May 7, 1975, will be disregarded.
(8) For all MA applicants/recipients, any
payment received under title II of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property
Acquisition Policies Act of 1970.
(9) For all MA applicants/recipients, for the
month of receipt and the following month, refunds or advance payments of the Federal
Earned Income Tax Credit.
(10) For needy individuals under the age of 21,
pregnant women, persons ineligible for ADC solely because their income and resources
exceed the ADC eligibility standards, and parents described in section 360-3.3(b)(7) of
this Part, bona fide loans will be disregarded. Bona fide loans are described in section
352.22 of this Title.
(11) Any federal major disaster and emergency
assistance provided under the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 (P.L. 93-288), as amended by the
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Amendments of 1988 (P.L. 100-707), and any
comparable disaster assistance provided by states, local governments, and disaster
assistance organizations will be disregarded.
(12) For all MA applicants/recipients,
interests of individual Native Americans in trust or restricted lands, from funds
appropriated in satisfaction of judgments of the Indian Claims Commission or the United
States Court of Federal Claims will be disregarded in determining eligibility.