To determine financial eligibility, the Program considers the
applicant or recipient's family size, income and resources. Applicants or
recipients who have access to financial or other resources sufficient to meet
their needs may be found ineligible for services.
011.01
FAMILY SIZE.
Family size is determined by the number of adults and children related by
blood, marriage, or adoption who reside in the same household. An unborn child
may be included.
011.02
INCOME AND RESOURCE ELIGIBILITY. In order to be
eligible, applicants and recipients must have gross income, minus Department
allowable income exclusions that is at or below 312% of the federal poverty
level, adjusted for family size to meet income criteria for the Program.
Applicants or recipients with family resources exceeding $35,000 for a family
of one or $50,000 for a family of two or more are ineligible. Applicants or
recipients actively eligible for Social Security Supplemental Security Income,
Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Aid to Dependent Children
or Assistance to the Aged, Blind and Disabled are waived from additional
requirements for income and resource testing for this Program.
011.02(A)
TOTAL FAMILY
INCOME. For persons who have reached the age of 19, only the
income of the applicant or recipient and the applicant or recipient's spouse
will be considered. For persons under the age of 19, and not designated by a
court as emancipated, the income and assets of the applicant or recipient and
the taxable income of the custodial parent(s) is considered.
011.02(B)
INCOME
VERIFICATION. Applicants or recipients are to report and provide
verification of all gross earned and unearned income. Verification of earned
income consists of the following:
(i) The
Department considers the gross amount of all earned and unearned income to the
family in determining initial and ongoing eligibility unless it is specifically
excluded below;
(ii) The date paid
or received;
(iii) The period
covered by the payment or benefit; and
(iv) The gross amount of payment or
benefit.
011.02(C)
INCOME EXCLUSIONS. The following income sources are
not considered in determining gross monthly income:
(i) Amount designated, per Medicaid
eligibility, by a spouse living at home to a spouse in an alternate living
situation, as defined by the Medical Assistance Act, Neb. Rev. Stat.
§§
68-901
to
68-992;
(ii) Any grant or loan to any undergraduate
student for educational purposes made or insured under any program administered
by the Commissioner of Education under the Higher Education Opportunity Act,
Public
Law 110-315;
(iii) Earnings of a child age 13 or
younger;
(iv) Loans, grants, or
scholarships obtained and used under conditions that prohibit their use for
current living costs;
(v) Payments
received through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act for classroom
training, tuition and books. Payments to meet living expenses while attending
school are considered income;
(vi)
Payments to an individual participating in training or school attendance
subsidized by Vocational Rehabilitation within the Nebraska Department of
Education;
(vii) Reimbursement of
expenses or payments for services from the Senior Companion Program,
AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Foster Grandparents, Service Corps of Retired
Executives, Experience Works and any other programs under Title II and II of
Public Law 93-113;
(viii) Value of
United States Department of Agriculture donated foods;
(ix) Value of Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program and the special food service program for children under the
National School Lunch Program Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as
amended;
(x) Assigned child or
spousal support;
(xi) Subsidized
adoption or subsidized guardianship payments from Title IV-E or child welfare
funds; and
(xii) Work study for a
graduate student or a student working for a second degree.
011.02(D)
RESOURCE
EXCLUSIONS. The following resources are not considered in
determining program eligibility:
(i) Real
property which the applicant or recipient owns and occupies as a
home;
(ii) Household goods and
personal effects of a moderate value used in the home;
(iii) Cash surrender value of life insurance
policies with combined face values of $1,500 or less per individual;
(iv) Unspent portion of any lump sum payment
or retroactive payment for Retirement, Survivors, and Disabled Insurance and
Supplemental Security Income;
(v)
United States savings bonds;
(vi)
Value of unavailable resources;
(vii) One motor vehicle;
(viii) Essential property, land and equipment
used for trade or business;
(ix)
Non-business property up to Program specified maximum;
(x) Equity value of nonbusiness real or
personal property used to produce goods or services essential to daily
activities up to program specified maximum;
(xi) Irrevocable burial trust funds or burial
insurance up to Program specified maximum;
(xii) Value of purchased burial space up to
program specified maximum;
(xiii)
Cash surrender value of life insurance policies up to Program specified
maximum;
(xiv) Qualified Long-Term
Care policy;
(xv) Testamentary
trusts and guardianships depending on the availability of the funds as
specified in the terms of the trust;
(xvi) Qualified annuities meeting Program
requirements;
(xvii) Special Needs
or Pooled Trusts not considered available if established for a disabled client
age 64 or younger or eligible to receive Supplemental Security Income,
Retirement, Survivors, and Disabled insurance, or Aid to Aged, Blind and
Disabled;
(xviii) Victims
compensation payments received from a state or local government to aid victims
of crime;
(xix) Payments received
from a state or local government to assist in relocation;
(xx) An unavailable job-related retirement
account held by the employer not readily converted into cash without
significant penalty;
(xxi) An
Individual Development Account;
(xxii) A Nebraska Enable Savings Plan
pursuant to the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014 and Section 529A
of the United States Internal Revenue Code; and
(xxiii) Medicare Set-Aside accounts used for
payment of medical bills of Medicare beneficiaries.