C. The following rules are based on
liberalized income policy:
1. Certain
liberalized income policies apply to the following categories of eligibility:
a) Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries
(QMB);
b) Specified Low-Income
Medicare Beneficiaries (SLMB);
c)
Qualifying Individuals (QI);
d)
Working Disabled (WD); and
e)
Healthier Mississippi Waiver (HMW).
2. The following income liberalizations are
applicable to the five categories of eligibility listed above:
a) The value of in-kind support and
maintenance (ISM) is excluded.
b)
The $20 general exclusion is raised to a $50 general exclusion.
c) The SSI budgeting practice that requires
an individual who is married to an ineligible spouse to be eligible as both an
individual and as a member of a couple is replaced with one test in which the
couple's income is combined after allocating to the ineligible children from
the ineligible spouse's income. The couple's countable income is then tested
against the couple limit appropriate to the coverage group.
d) Interest, dividend and royalty income that
does not exceed $5 per month per individual is excluded.
e) Couples living together are budgeted
separately when one member is enrolled in a HCBS Waiver Program and evaluated
for eligibility using institutional financial criteria and the other member of
a couple is applying under an at-home category.
f) Annual cost of living increases in federal
benefits (such as VA, Railroad Retirement, Civil Service, etc.,) that are in
addition to Title II benefits are disregarded in determining income through the
month following the month in which the annual Federal Poverty Level (FPL)
update is published.
g) Annual cost
of living increases in federal benefits (Title II benefits, VA, Civil Service,
and Railroad Retirement) are disregarded when the Federal Poverty Level (FPL)
update fails to increase at an equal or greater rate than the federal cost of
Living (COL) increase during the same year. The disregard of the COL increase
in federal benefits will apply to increase(s) received by the eligible
individual, couple and/or ineligible spouse. The COL increase will be
disregarded as income until such time as the FPL increase is greater than the
previous COL increase.
h) For the
Working Disabled coverage group, unearned income between the SSI limit and 135%
of the federal poverty limit is disregarded.
