Pennsylvania Code
Title 55 - HUMAN SERVICES
Part VI - Mental Health/Intellectual Disability/Autism Manual
Subpart C - Administration and Fiscal Management
Chapter 4310 - CLIENT LIABILITY-STATE MH/ID FACILITIES
DETERMINING LIABILITY AND ASSESSMENTS
Section 4310.13 - Determining legally liable relative monthly liability

(A) Earned income is the sum of all wages, salaries, fees, commissions, tips, bonuses, net rental income before deductions for taxes, insurance, tax sheltered annuities or other income.

(B) Interest income includes interest received from accounts with banks, money market funds, credit unions or bonds that are paid to the LLR.

(C) Dividends received from corporate stock holdings or life insurance policies are counted as income.

(D) Capital gains from any source.

(E) Benefits including, but not limited to, unemployment compensation, OASDI payments, pensions, black lung benefits, railroad retirement, and the like, are counted as income.

(F) Benefits of a LLR that are specifically restricted to his own personal use, such as veteran's pensions or Social Security benefits shall be considered only for his own support and must be disregarded for the purpose of supporting the client.

(A) If there is a court-supervised settlement or agreement regarding payment for medical care costs for the client, liability is only assessed against the spouse or parent having responsibility for these costs.

(B) If the court order specified that the first spouse or parent is liable for medical costs up to a given dollar amount, the second spouse or parent remains liable up to the second spouse's or parent's maximum liability, but liability may not exceed the amount assessed the first spouse or parent under court order.

(C) If there is no court-supervised separation or divorce agreement, the income of both spouses or parents is considered assessable up to the maximum liability. If a child is a client and if the parent with whom the child is not residing refuses to provide information or income amounts, liability of the parent with whom the child resides is limited to the maximum liability based on the one parent's income. The other parent refusing to provide information or income amounts is liable for the full cost of care up to the maximum liability over and above the charges paid by the parent with whom the child resides.

(D) Services may not be discontinued to a child because of nonpayment by the noncustodial parent.

(A) State and Federal income taxes actually paid, mandatory payroll deductions including Social Security, local taxes, wage and work privilege taxes, union dues and contributions to mandatory retirement plans.

(B) Health insurance premiums not included in clause (D). Life insurance premiums are not deductible.

(C) Reasonable and verified child care costs.

(D) Verified medical expenses, including health insurance premiums, not included in clause (B), exceeding 5% of gross annual income.

(E) A living allowance of $6,000 per household, plus an additional $1,000 per dependent. Real estate taxes on the home residence are deductible if paid currently.

(A) The spouse of the head of household, unless the spouse is separated or divorced from the head of household and the head of household is paying less than 50% of the cost of support of that spouse.

(B) Any children under 18 years of age related by blood, marriage, or adoption whom the head of the household has a legal duty to support, or other dependents as defined by the IRS dependency criteria.

(C) A child under 22 years of age who is a student regularly attending school, college, or university, or a course of vocational or technical training designed to prepare him for gainful employment, is counted as a household member if the head of household is responsible for at least 50% of his support.