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ESA SNAP Policy Manual 160 13.4 Determining Deductions Allowable deductions include only certain dependent care, shelter, child support and medical costs, as described in Chapter 12, Income Deductions.  Note: Dependent care expenses will only be deductible if the service is provided by someone outside the SNAP household and the SNAP household makes a money payment for the service. For example, a dependent care deduction will not be allowed if another SNAP household member provides the care or compensation for the care is provided as an in-kind benefit, such as food. 13.4.1 Billed Expenses Except as provided in Section 13.4.2, Averaging Expenses, a deduction will be allowed only in the month the expense is billed or otherwise becomes due, regardless of when the household intends to pay the expense. For example, rent due each month will be included in the household’s shelter costs even if the household has not yet paid the expense. Amounts carried forward from past billing periods are not deductible, even if included with the most recent billing and actually paid by the household. In any event, a particular expense may only be deducted once. ESA will calculate a household’s expenses based on the expenses the household expects to be billed for during the certification period. Anticipation of the expense will be based on the most recent month’s bills unless the household is reasonably certain a change will occur. 13.4.2 Averaging Expenses Households may elect to have fluctuating expenses averaged. Households may also elect to have expenses that are billed less often than monthly averaged forward over the interval between scheduled billings or, if there is no scheduled interval, averaged forward over the period the expense is intended to cover. For example, if a household receives a single bill in February that covers the next three months of childcare, the bill may be averaged over February, March and April. The household may elect to have one-time-only expenses averaged over the entire certification period in which they are billed. 13.4.3 Conversion of Deductions Household’s expenses billed weekly or biweekly will be converted to a monthly amount following procedures for income in Section 13.3.1, Anticipated Income. 13.4.3.1 Anticipated Medical Expenses For households eligible for the medical deduction (see Section 12.6, Medical Deduction), the household’s monthly medical deduction for the certification period will be based on the information reported and verified by the household and any anticipated changes in the household’s medical expenses that can be reasonably expected to occur during the certification period based on available information about the recipient’s medical condition, public or private insurance coverage and current verified medical expenses. Return