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MEDICAL SERVICES POLICY MANUAL, SECTION E

E 600 Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Program

E-670 Resource Exclusions MS Manual 01/01/24 The amount of funds in an ABLE account will not be counted as a resource for Health Care eligibility. Any distribution for a non-housing related Qualified Disability Expense (QDE), that has been retained beyond the month it was received, will be excluded from the designated beneficiary’s countable resources if:

• The designated beneficiary maintains, makes contributions to, or receives distributions from the ABLE account; • The distribution is unspent; • The distribution is identifiable (Excluded funds commingled with non-excluded funds must be identifiable); and • The individual still intends to use the distribution for a non-housing related QDE.

EXAMPLE: Excluded Distribution: Eric takes a distribution of five hundred dollars ($500) from his ABLE account in February 2017 to pay for a health related QDE. His health-related expense is not due until May, so Eric deposits the distribution into his checking account in February. The distribution is not income in February. Eric maintains his ABLE account at all relevant times and the distribution of five hundred dollars ($500) remains both unspent and identifiable until Eric pays his health-related expense in May. Therefore, the distribution of five hundred dollars ($500) will be excluded from Eric’s countable resources in March, April, and May.

NOTE: A distribution for a housing related QDE, or for an expense that is not a QDE, will be counted as a resource if the beneficiary retains the distribution into the month following the month of receipt. Distributions for housing related QDEs must be spent in the month of receipt. If the beneficiary spends the distribution within the month of receipt, there is no effect on eligibility.

If distribution for a non-housing-related QDE that was retained into the following month is actually used for a non-qualified purpose or a housing-related QDE, the amount of funds used for the non-qualified purpose or a housing-related QDE will be considered a resource on the first day of the month in which the funds were spent. The caseworker will assume that the individual’s intent to use the funds for a QDE changed as of the first of the month that the individual spent the funds. If the individual’s intent to use the funds for a QDE changes at any other time, but the individual has not spent the funds, the retained funds will be counted as a resource the first of the following month.