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All County Welfare Directors Letter No.: 20-10 Page 4 April 30, 2020

dependents, regardless of where they reside, when determining the MAGI Medi-Cal household composition.

Basic Rules for Married Individuals Whenever a couple is married and expect to file a joint tax return, regardless of whether they are living together in the same home, the spouses will be counted in each other’s household for the purposes of making a MAGI Medi-Cal determination in accordance with 42 C.F.R. Section 435.603(f)(1) and (4).

However, if the spouses will not be filing jointly in the next year, it will be considered a reasonable predictable change in income consistent with 42 C.F.R. Section 435.603(h)(3), and the spouses will not be required to be included in each other’s MAGI Medi-Cal household.

Basic Rules for Individuals Claimed as a Tax Dependent Tax Dependent Rules apply to individuals who expect to be claimed as a tax dependent and do not meet any of the dependent exceptions (detailed below in “Tax Dependent Exceptions” section). It is important to note tax dependents can file their own taxes in addition to being a tax dependent. As defined in 42 C.F.R. Section 435.603(f)(2), the household composition of a tax dependent shall consist of: 1) The tax filer; 2) The spouse of the tax filer who lives in the home; 3) The spouse of the tax filer who files as “Married Filing Jointly” who does not live in the home; 4) Everyone the tax filer claims as a tax dependent; and/or 5) The unborn child(ren) of a pregnant tax dependent, the unborn child(ren) of a pregnant tax filer(s) if living in the home or filing taxes as “Married Filing Jointly,” or the unborn child(ren) of another pregnant tax dependent in the individual’s household composition. Unless one of the exceptions applies (discussed in the section below titled “Tax Dependent Exceptions”), the household composition of a tax dependent is generally the same as the tax filer claiming such individual as a tax dependent.

Tax Dependent Exceptions When determining MAGI Medi-Cal eligibility for tax dependents, the CEW shall determine if the individual(s) meets a tax dependent exception. If an individual meets one of the following exceptions, the CEW must apply the Non-Filer Rules (detailed below in “Non-Filer Tax Rules”) to construct the individual’s household composition.