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All County Welfare Directors Letter No.: 20-10 Page 10 April 30, 2020

For Covered California, dependent children are included in the household regardless of their age if the tax filer will claim them as a tax dependent. Non-dependent children under the age of 26 are included in the household if the tax filer intends to cover them on their Covered California plan. Other relatives living with the tax filer, such as parents, siblings, or other relatives, are only included in the household if the tax filer will claim them as tax dependents.

IV. MAGI Medi-Cal Household Composition Scenarios The intent of the scenarios below is to assist counties in understanding MAGI Medi-Cal household composition. Each scenario goes through the appropriate steps and mirrors the language on the “DHCS MAGI Household Size Flow Chart” to determine the correct household composition for every individual in the scenario.

Scenario 1: Married Couple with Mutual Child (Age 10) and Separate Child (Age 13) Married couple (Spouse 1 and Spouse 2) is living together with one mutual child (Child 1) and Spouse 2’s separate child (Child 2). Both children are under the age of 18. Spouse 1 and Spouse 2 plan to file a joint tax return and will claim both Child 1 and Child 2 as tax dependents. This scenario reviews Tax Flier Rules and Tax Dependent Rules.

Spouse 1’s Household Composition: 1) Does Spouse 1 expect to file a federal tax return? Yes. 2) Does Spouse 1 expect to be claimed as a tax dependent by another tax filer? No. 3) Spouse 1 qualifies for Tax Filer Rules: Household consists of Spouse 1 and all those they claim as a tax dependent. (Child 1 and Child 2). 4) Is Spouse 1 married? Yes. 5) Are Spouse 1 and Spouse 2 living apart and filing separately? No (Include Spouse 2 in the household composition). 6) Is Spouse 1 pregnant? No. 7) Is anyone included in the household composition pregnant? No. 8) No additional changes, end household composition determination here.

Spouse 2’s Household Composition: 1) Does Spouse 2 expect to file a federal tax return? Yes. 2) Does Spouse 2 expect to be claimed as a tax dependent by another tax filer? No. 3) Spouse 2 qualifies for Tax Filer Rules: household consists of Spouse 2, and all those Spouse 2 claims as a tax dependent. (Child 1 and Child 2)