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COMAR 10.09.24.01-.16 1679 State of Maryland Medical Assistance Manual Revised July 2012

(a) In determining the resources of a person and the person's spouse, if any, there shall be excluded an amount up to $1,500 per person of funds specifically set aside for burial arrangements of the person or the person's spouse. (b) Interest earned on excluded burial funds and appreciation on the value of excluded burial arrangements shall be excluded from resources if left to accumulate and become a part of the burial fund. (c) Funds or interest earned on funds and appreciation in the value of burial arrangements, which have been excluded from resources because they are burial funds, shall be used solely for that purpose. (d) If any excluded funds, interest, or appreciated value set aside for burial expenses are used for any purpose other than the burial arrangements of the person or the person's spouse for whom the funds were set aside, the unit shall be determined ineligible until the unit spends for medical services an amount which is equal to the amount of burial funds used for some other purpose. (e) §G(13)(d) of this regulation may not apply if countable resources, when added to the total excluded burial funds, including the amount misspent, were within the applicable amount in Schedule MA-2 during the month in which the use of burial funds for some other purpose occurred. (f) An individual's $1,500 exclusion as described under §G(13)(a) of this regulation shall be reduced by: (i) The face value of life insurance policies owned by the individual or the individual's spouse if the cash surrender value of those policies has been excluded from resources; and (ii) Amounts in an irrevocable burial fund as described under §G(14) of this regulation. (14) An irrevocable burial fund of any amount, which has been set aside for the burial of the individual or the individual's spouse. H. Excludable Resources for Aged, Blind, or Disabled Institutionalized Individuals Who Do Not Intend to Return Home. The following resources are excluded in determining financial eligibility for an aged, blind, or disabled institutionalized individual who does not intend to resume living in the individual's home: (1) The home as defined in §B(4) of this regulation, if it is occupied by the institutionalized person's spouse or any one of the following relatives who are medically or financially dependent: (a) Son; (b) Daughter; (c) Grandson; (d) Granddaughter;