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Certain types of *Tribal per capita payments and other type of Tribal income are excluded from consideration as income. Per capita distribution of all funds held in a trust by the Secretary of Interior for members of an Indian Tribe are excluded from consideration as income and resources.9The following nonexclusive types of income are exempt in the determination of Medicaid and CHIP eligibility determinations: 10 • Income from selling culturally significant jewelry or basketwork. • Per capita payments from a tribe which comes from natural resources, usage rights, leases, or royalties. • Income received from farming, fishing, natural resources on Indiana land trust. • Interest Income *Per capita payments refer to the distribution of money or other items of value to all tribal members, or to identified groups of members, paid directly from the net revenues of any tribal gaming activity.11 Non-Excluded Income Tribal funds distributed by the tribe to individual on a per capita basis, but which are not retained in trust by the Secretary of Interior are not excluded from income and resources and therefore are considered countable income in the month of receipt.12The following types of income are not exempt for Medicaid/CHIP.
• Tribally managed gaming revenues • Any money from a per capita distribution that have not been held in trust by Secretary of Interior Resource Exceptions Resources include an individual’s right to harvest or extract natural resources from land the individual owns or has ownership interest (e.g., mineral rights, fishing rights, timber rights). When an individual does not have the legal right, authority, or power to liquidate resources or use either the income or resource, it is excluded.13 The following types of resources are exempt in the determination of Medicaid and CHIP eligibility. • Property held in trust under supervision of Secretary of the Interior • Property connected to the political relationship between Indiana Tribes and the Federal government. • Property with unique Indiana significance • Ownership interest in rents, leases, royalties, or usage rights related to natural resources or the sale of natural resources. • Proceeds from extraction of natural resources held by Tribe. Note: The proceeds received from the sell or exchange of a resource (i.e., gravel, timber fish, oil) by an AI/AN member, is considered a resource not income.