Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 11, August 30, 2024
(1) Cash
-- Cash on hand is always counted as liquid resource except when it is a
business asset necessary to the operation of a trade or business that is
excluded as necessary for self-support or under an approved plan for achieving
self-support in the case of the blind or disabled.
(2) Checking, Savings, and Other Accounts.
(a) General. These are countable resources if
the applicant/recipient has unrestricted legal access to the accounts. This
rule applies to individual accounts and joint accounts as well as certificates
of deposit, savings certificates, and all forms of time deposits, whether held
individually or jointly. This rule applies to accounts, deposits, etc., in any
financial institution or being held by any financial or brokerage service or
agency.
(b) Joint Accounts.
1. When only one holder of a joint account is
an applicant/recipient who has unrestricted access to the funds in the account
it is presumed that the applicant/recipient owns the total funds in the
account.
2. When two or more
eligible individuals or applicants are holders of the same joint account and
each has unrestricted access to the funds in the account it is presumed that
the eligible individual or applicant owns an equal share of the total funds in
the account, regardless of the source of the funds.
3. Unrestricted access depends upon the legal
structure of the account. When the account reads "or" or "and/or" and the
applicant/recipient is legally able to withdraw funds from the account, he/she
is considered to have unrestricted access to the total funds in the
account.
(c) Rebuttal of
Presumption. The opportunity to rebut the presumption of ownership shall be
afforded all applicants/recipients. In order for an applicant/recipient to
rebut successfully the presumption of full or partial ownership, all of the
following documentation is required:
1. A
statement by the applicant/recipient on a form 234, giving:
(i) His/her allegation regarding no ownership
or partial ownership of the funds documented by a statement from the financial
institution, copy of the bank book, account book, certificate of deposit, etc.,
verifying the language of the account, and a copy of the signature
card;
(ii) The reason for
establishing the joint account;
(iii) Who made deposits to and withdrawals
from the account, and how withdrawals were spent, documented with evidence such
as wage statements, deposit slips, and employer's statements verifying source
of deposits and cancelled checks; and
(iv) Corroborating statements on form 234
from the other account holder(s), or, if the co-holder of the joint account is
incompetent or a minor, a statement from a third party who has knowledge of the
circumstances surrounding the establishment of the joint account.
2. If the rebuttal is successful
and it is determined that the funds in the account do not belong to the
applicant/recipient and should be excluded as a countable resource, a change in
the account designation removing the applicant/recipient's name from the
account or restricting access to the account must be executed and verification
of such submitted as evidence before eligibility can be determined. If this
change is not made and evidence is not submitted by the applicant/recipient
within ten (10) days following notification, the presumption of ownership will
apply.
(3)
Promissory Notes, Loans, and Property Agreements (Mortgages) -- Promissory
notes, loans, and property agreements are considered resources, if the owner
had the legal right to sell them. If so, the resources should be counted in the
amount of the outstanding principal balance.
(4) Trusts -- Whether the principal of a
trust is a resource to the applicant/recipient depends on its availability to
the applicant/recipient by the terms of the trust instrument itself.
Trusts, or other similar legal devices may be excluded from
consideration as a resource. Medicaid shall determine whether the requirements
for exclusion expressed in the current statutory authorities have been
meet.
(5) Annuities - A
lump sum annuity that can be sold, cashed in, surrendered or revoked will be
considered a resource in the amount of the current value of the annuity unless
a lesser value is satisfactorily documented.
(6) Stocks, Bonds, and Mutual Fund Shares --
These are considered countable liquid resources according to their market
value.
(7) Life Insurance -- The
cash surrender value of any life insurance policy owned by the
applicant/recipient is a countable resource to the extent provided in
20 C.F.R. §
416.1230.
(8) The foregoing are not intended to be an
all-inclusive list of liquid resources. Any resource readily convertible into
cash may be considered a liquid resource.
Author: Audrey Middleton, Associate Director,
Policy Program Implementation Unit, Certification Support
Division
Statutory Authority: State Plan; Social Security
Act, Titles XVI, XIX; 42 C.F.R. §§401, et seq.; 20 C.F.R.
§§401, et seq.
