Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The income of an alien's sponsor shall be
deemed to be unearned income of an alien applying for AFDC-related Medicaid.
Deeming continues until the earlier of naturalization of the immigrant or the
immigrant's being credited with 40 quarters of Social Security coverage. Such
quarters do not include any quarters after December 31, 1996 in which the
immigrant or the immigrant's spouse/parent on whose record the immigrant is
credited with quarters receives Federal means tested benefits. For purposes of
this section, a sponsor is an individual, a public or private agency or
organization who executed a legally binding affidavit of support on behalf of
an alien (who is not the child of the sponsor or the sponsor's spouse) as a
condition of the alien's entry into the United States. No income shall be
deemed from a sponsor who is (or whose spouse is) receiving AFDC-related
Medicaid or SSI.
1. These deeming provisions
do not apply to any alien who is:
i. Admitted
as a conditional entrant refugee to the United States as a result of the
application of the provision of section 203(a)(7) (in effect prior to April 1,
1980) of the Immigration and Nationality Act;
ii. Admitted as a refugee to the United
States as a result of the application of the provisions of section 207(c) (in
effect after March 31, 1980) of the Immigration and Nationality Act;
iii. Paroled into the United States as a
refugee under section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act;
iv. Granted political asylum
by the Attorney General under section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality
Act;
v. A Cuban or Haitian entrant
as defined in section 501(e) of the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980 (
Public Law 96-422);
vi. An
Amerasian admitted under Section 584 of the Foreign Operation Appropriations
Act beginning March 20, 1988; or
vii. Battered immigrants or those who would
be indigent, defined as unable to obtain food or shelter without assistance,
because their sponsors are not providing adequate support.
(b) The amount of income of a
sponsor that shall be deemed to be the unearned income of an alien shall be
determined as follows:
1. The sponsor's total
monthly wages, salaries, and net earnings from self-employment (and that of his
or her spouse if living with the sponsor) shall be reduced by 20 percent (not
to exceed $ 175.00);
2. The amount
determined in (b)1 above shall be added to the unearned income of the sponsor
(and that of his or her spouse if living with the sponsor);
3. The amount determined in (b)2 above shall
be reduced by the following:
i. The
appropriate amount from the standard of need (N.J.A.C.
10:69-10.2) for the sponsor, spouse, and
other persons residing in his or her household who are or could be claimed by
the sponsor as dependents for determination of Federal personal income tax
liability and who are not beneficiaries of AFDC-related Medicaid;
ii. Any amounts actually paid by the sponsor
or sponsor's spouse to people not living in the household who are or could be
claimed by them as dependents to determine their Federal personal income tax
liability; and
iii. Actual payments
of alimony or child support with respect to individuals not in the household;
and
4. The remaining
amount shall be deemed to the alien and shall be counted as unearned income in
the determination of eligibility and grant amount.
(c) In any case where a person is the sponsor
of two or more aliens, the income of the sponsor (and the sponsor's spouse if
living with the sponsor), to the extent the income would be deemed to any one
of the aliens under the provisions of this section shall be equally divided
among the sponsored aliens.
(d) For
the period of alien sponsor deeming, the sponsored alien who is not exempt from
deeming under (a)1 above shall provide the CWA with any information and
documentation necessary to determine the income of the sponsor and the
sponsor's spouse (if applicable and if living with the sponsor) that can be
deemed available to the alien, and obtain any cooperation necessary from the
sponsor.
1. If the alien's circumstances
change during the deeming period such that the alien is no longer exempt from
or subject to deeming in accordance with (a)1i through vi above, the CWA shall
reflect the resulting change in unearned income in the eligibility
determination.
2. A sponsored
alien is ineligible in any month in which adequate information concerning the
income and of the sponsor or sponsor's spouse (if living with the sponsor) is
not provided.
3. Unsponsored family
members are not ineligible if a sponsored alien fails to provide information
concerning the sponsor or sponsor's spouse (if living with the sponsor).
However, any income the unsponsored family members actually receive from the
sponsor shall be reported and considered in determining their
eligibility.
(e) Income
which is deemed to an alien shall not be considered in determining the need of
other unsponsored members of the alien's family except to the extent the income
is actually available. The sponsor's obligatory contribution shall not exceed
the per capita share of the eligible unit's adjusted allowance for the alien(s)
for whom the sponsor is liable.
(f)
Any individual sponsor of an alien, and the alien, shall be jointly and
severally liable for any incorrectly paid AFDC-Medicaid benefits made to the
alien during the alien sponsored deeming period that was caused by the
sponsor's failure to provide correct information under the provisions of this
section, except as provided in (f)1 below.
1.
When a sponsor is found to have good cause or to be without fault for not
providing information to the CWA, the sponsor shall not be held liable for a
recovery of incorrectly paid benefits.
i.
Good cause is defined as including, but not limited to, a language barrier,
mental impairment of the sponsor, the information was thought to be correct by
the sponsor, or the sponsor did not realize foreign assets must be
reported.
2. Incorrectly
paid benefits for which the alien or the sponsor and the alien are liable as
described in (f) above shall be recovered in accordance with the provisions of
N.J.A.C. 10:49-14.
