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benefits does not count as income, and must be excluded. Monies deducted for Medicare premiums must be included as income. Social Security benefits are counted as unearned income. MA AR: N/A AX: N/A SR: If an applicant or recipient of Medicaid under the SR program type received Title II benefits, the amount of the Title II COLA is disregarded for the first three months of the calendar year, from January 1 - March 31. The Title II COLAs are disregarded to ensure that individuals do not become ineligible for MA based on the annual inflation adjustment to Title II benefits because this adjustment is made several months prior to the adjustment in the federal poverty level used to determine SR eligibility. QM: See SR. MC: N/A FS If the Social Security Administration is deducting Medicare premiums from an OASDI benefit, count the gross amount of OASDI as income. Consider the Medicare premiums as a medical expense (see Section 6.3: Income Disregards and Deductions in this Part.)

SPOUSE SUPPORT 4.43 ALL Spouse support is a legally enforceable obligation for the financial support of a spouse or former spouse. It is usually in the form of maintenance payments during a marital separation or alimony following a divorce decree. MA Count as unearned income the cash amount of any spouse support received. TANF See MA. GC See MA. FS See MA. Also, count as unearned income spouse support that is otherwise payable to the family that is diverted to a creditor for a household expense. Do not include as unearned income support payments, whether court-ordered or voluntary, to a third-party that is not otherwise payable to the family. Example 1 A court orders Mr. Patel to pay $400 per month to Sonali, his former spouse. Mr. Patel and Sonali agree that he will pay $350 per month directly to Sonali's landlord. The entire $400 counts as unearned income for Sonali. Example 2 A court orders Mr. Leigh to pay $300 per month to Janet, his former spouse, and another $200 per month directly to a bank to repay a car loan. Only $300 counts as unearned income for Janet.

STRIKE BENEFITS 4.44 MA Count the gross amount of compensation for persons on strike as unearned income. TANF See MA. GC See MA. FS See Chapter 11: Strikers in Part IV for the treatment of strikers in the FS Program. If the striker's income on the day before the strike is higher than the striker's income while on strike, the individual's income on the day before the strike is used to determine FS eligibility and benefits. Thus, if the individual's income was higher prior to the strike, strike benefits will be excluded in lieu of using the individual's higher pre-strike income.