6318 Garnished or Diverted Wages

Available income shall not be reduced by wage earner plans, garnishments, income withholding orders and similar types of income reductions. Such forms of income with holdings are generally used to meet the individual's previous or ongoing obligations and are considered available for the purpose of determining cash and medical eligibility.

Wages earned by a household member that are garnished or diverted by an employer and are paid to a third party for a household's expenses, such as rent or child support, shall be considered income. However, if the employer pays a household's rent directly to the landlord in addition to paying the household its regular wages, the rent payment shall be excluded as a vendor payment. In addition, if the employer provides housing to an employee, the value of the housing shall not be counted as income.