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Chapter: 2400 Budgeting Income Program: CIC 46 will be treated in accordance with TCA policy except that the lump sum eligibility period is the number of months the child is ineligible based on dividing the lump sum by the board rate. As with Family-Related Medicaid policy, any remainder must be counted the first month that eligibility resumes. 2450.0500 INCOME AVERAGING (CIC) Income averaging is a method used to adjust for fluctuations in income when the income is not verified through the Federal Data Services Hub (FDSH) or State Wage Information Collection Agency (SWICA) data, converted to a monthly amount.

When earned income is received more frequently than monthly, a four week average is used. When income is received semimonthly, the computation is averaged based on the most recent available one month of pay. When the income is received monthly, use the most recent one month of pay if representative.

When using an average, use only the weeks in the average that represent the ongoing pattern of employment. If there are significant breaks of one week or more without pay and the breaks are not expected to recur at four week intervals, the breaks will be disregarded in computing the average. Such a break without pay might be due to illness, a death, vacation, employer leaving town, and the like. When such breaks are part of the pattern of the applicant/recipient's employment, the weeks are taken into consideration in computation of the average (for example, construction workers).

When the applicant/recipient begins employment by working only a partial week, thus having lower wages for that week only, the initial partial week should not be included in the average used to compute the budgeted income.

Unearned income such as contributions may be averaged using the same procedures. 2450.0502 Averaging Fluctuating Income (CIC) To average income, consider the standard filing unit’s anticipation of monthly income fluctuations over the eligibility period. When averaging income, use the most recent consecutive four weeks or the best available information when it is representative of the individual’s future earnings.

When the most recent consecutive four pay stubs are provided and there are no major changes in pay or number of work hours, project future monthly earnings on an average of the four pay stubs provided.

When the most recent consecutive four pay stubs are provided and there has been a change to the hourly rate of pay or work hours use the most recent pay stub(s), which are representative of future earnings. 2450.0505 Less Than a Four Week Average (CIC) When a shorter than four week average is to be computed, use the number of weeks available up to four at the new amount, to compute the revised average. When the applicant/recipient has just begun employment and only one full week's earnings are available or only the wage and hours are known, compute the budget based on the best information available. Contact may be made with the employer if necessary to confirm employment information. The reason for the less than four week average must be clearly reflected in the case recordings. 2450.0509 Income More Often than Monthly (CIC) The following procedure to calculate the average of earned or unearned income received in varying amounts more frequently than monthly is the same for all programs:

1. Add the gross income amounts for the past four weeks to get the total.