Page 12

Louisiana Medicaid Eligibility Manual

Eligibility Factors Issued March 31, 2026

Page 12 of I-1400 Replacing October 16, 2025 Revised/added text indicated by underscore

Deleted text indicated by “” The sum of the unmet living allowances for all ineligible children is the total unmet living allowance to be used in Step 3. Step 3. These are the three (3) sub-steps necessary to determine whether the ineligible spouse's remaining income exceeds the individual living allowance (the difference in FBR for an individual and FBR for a couple): • Calculate the ineligible spouse's earned and unearned income, applying only the appropriate exclusions listed in MEM I-1424.1 Income Not Included in Deeming. Do not subtract the $20 or $65 plus one-half deductions. • Subtract any unmet living allowance, for the children, from the ineligible spouse's unearned income. If the ineligible spouse has insufficient unearned income to cover the allocations, the balance is deducted from the ineligible spouse's earned income. • Compare the remaining income of the ineligible spouse to the living allowance (the difference in FBR for an individual and FBR for a couple). See Z-1500 Deeming Allowance.

If the remaining income is equal to or less than the living allowance (the difference in FBR for an individual and FBR for a couple), there is no income to deem to the applicant/beneficiary. Compare the income of the applicant/beneficiary to the individual income standard for the appropriate program.

If the remaining income is greater than the living allowance (the difference in the individual FBR and couple FBR), deeming is applicable. The applicant/beneficiary and ineligible spouse are treated as an eligible couple for budgeting purposes. • Add the remaining unearned income of the ineligible spouse to all of the unearned income of the eligible individual. Add the remaining earned income of the ineligible spouse to the earned income the eligible individual. • Subtract one $20 disregard from the total unearned income determined in Step 6. If there is earned income, subtract any remainder of the $20 disregard, and $65 and one-half of the remainder from the total earned income determined in Step 6.