(A)
General. Assets owned exclusively by an applicant or
member and the spouse are counted in their entirety when determining
eligibility for MassHealth, except when assessing assets in accordance with
130 CMR
520.016.
(B)
Joint Ownership of Assets,
Other than Bank Accounts. Any asset, other than a joint bank
account, jointly owned by two or more individuals, is presumed to be owned in
equal shares and counted proportionately unless a different distribution of
ownership is verified or unless assets are being assessed in accordance with
130 CMR 520.016.
When such a different distribution of ownership is verified, the MassHealth
agency attributes the countable value of the assets to the applicant or member
or the spouse in proportion to the ownership interest.
(C)
Joint Bank
Accounts.
(1) Bank accounts are
defined at
130 CMR
520.007(B)(1).
(2) When the applicant or member is a joint
owner of a bank account, the entire amount on deposit is considered available
to the applicant or member, except when assessing assets in accordance with
130 CMR
520.016.
(3) If the applicant or member claims partial
ownership of the funds in the joint account, he or she must verify the amount
owned by each joint depositor. When such a partial ownership is verified, the
countable value of the assets is attributed to each owner in proportion to the
ownership interest.
(4) The
applicant or member may transfer the funds owned by him or her into an account
that accurately reflects his or her ownership interest. The MassHealth agency
does not consider such a transfer of assets to make oneself eligible for
MassHealth if the transfer is completed within 30 days after written
notification by the MassHealth agency of this requirement, except in the case
of a community spouse as described at
130 CMR 520.016
who is allowed 90 days to make the transfer.
(D)
Verifications.
Individual or joint ownership of any countable asset must be verified by a
written document providing reasonable evidence of ownership. The MassHealth
agency determines whether a verification is acceptable in accordance with
130 CMR 520.007(B)(3)
and 130 CMR 520.005(D). Acceptable
verification includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) a title;
(2) a purchase contract;
(3) documents establishing ownership of joint
bank accounts that demonstrate the following:
(a) the origin of the funds in a joint bank
account, who opened the account, or whose money was used to open the
account;
(b) federal and state tax
records as to which joint account holders pay the tax on interest credited to
the account as income;
(c) records
of who makes deposits and withdrawals and, if appropriate, how withdrawn funds
are spent;
(d) any evidence of
written or oral agreements made between the parties at the time of the creation
of the account;
(e) evidence of
age, relationship, physical or mental condition, or place of residence of the
co-holders when the applicant or member states that he or she does not own the
account but is listed as a co-holder solely as a convenience to the other
co-holder to conduct bank transactions on his or her behalf; and
(f) why the applicant or member is listed on
the account;
(4)
certification of ownership;
(5)
financial-institution records indicating the establishment of an account that
accurately reflect the ownership interest of funds from the joint
account;
(6) other documentation
that indicates ownership, asset value, and restrictions on access;
(7) a notarized affidavit, sworn to under
penalty of perjury, signed by all owners of the asset, and attesting to the
distribution of ownership; or
(8)
the self-declaration of the individual who is applying solely for MassHealth
Senior Buy-in for Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries (QMB) as described in
130 CMR
519.010: MassHealth Senior Buy-in
(for Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries (QMB)) or MassHealth Buy-in for
Specified Low Income Medicare Beneficiaries (SLMB) or Massllealth Buy-in for
Qualifying Individuals (QI) both as described in
130 CMR
519.011: MassHealth Buy-in,
provided that the MassHealth agency may use electronic data sources to verify
eligibility, and at its discretion, request additional verification from the
individual.
