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MISSISSIPPI DIVISION OF MEDICAID Eligibility Policy and Procedures Manual CHAPTER 200A – Income: ABD Categories Page |116 Effective Month: July 2025 Use of a Tickler (Alert) The specialist will use a tickler file, either in MEDS as an alert or manually, as appropriate, to control cases with income that will affect eligibility or Medicaid income for a future month. A tickler must be set for the month prior to the month of receipt of the income to handle the case to either adjust Medicaid Income or issue a Notice of Adverse Action. 200A.11 INCOME COMPUTATIONS An individual’s or couple’s monthly income is one of the factors that determines eligibility for Medicaid. The instructions in this section explain how to compute countable income based on federal rules. 200A.11.01 COUNTABLE INCOME Countable income is the amount of income subtracted from the appropriate need standard to determine if an individual or couple is eligible for Medicaid. Countable income is what remains after: • Eliminating all amounts that are not income; and • Applying all appropriate exclusions. Countable income is the sum of a month’s countable earned and unearned income. 200A.11.02 NEED STANDARDS The appropriate need standard used to test income depends on the coverage group for which the client is applying. Medicaid need standards are based on the following: • SSI Federal Benefit Rates (FBR) set by SSI policy and subject to increase in January of each year. SSI FBRs are used for SSI-related cases, i.e., SSI Retro and former SSI recipient cases. Countable income cannot equal or exceed the appropriate FBR for Medicaid eligibility. • Federal Poverty Levels (FPL) set by the federal government and subject to change each year, usually in February or March. FPLs are used at varying rates (100%, 120%, 135%, 200%, and 250%) depending on the coverage group, i.e., QMB, SLMB, QI, etc. Countable income can be equal to but cannot exceed the appropriate FPL for Medicaid eligibility.