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3. When the COLA increase is greater than the Federal Poverty Level, some Medicaid beneficiaries may lose eligibility or move to deductible status. In this situation, the most recent COLA must be disregarded in determining continued eligibility. If the individual remains eligible when the SSA COLA is disregarded, the disregard continues until the beneficiary loses Medicaid eligibility or becomes eligible without the disregard.

4 Follow procedures in MA-2260, Financial Eligibility Regulations for budgeting earned and unearned income and applying financially responsible person’s income.

B. Infrequent/Irregular Income Exclusion

1. Infrequent Income

Income that is received by the a/b or financially responsible person only once during a calendar quarter from a single source, and the a/b or financially responsible person did not receive it in the month immediately prior to that month or in the month immediately after that month, regardless of whether or not these payments occur in different calendar quarters.

2. Irregular Income

Income is considered to be received irregularly if the a/b or financially responsible person cannot reasonably expect to receive it.

3. Single Source of Income

a. A single source of earned income is an employer, a trade, or a business. A single source of unearned income is an individual, a household, an organization or an investment. Examples of a single source of unearned income are as follows:

1) A household in which an a/b lives is a single source even if the household composition changes due to a move by the a/b or by other household members.