Page 378
378 (07/2026) Chapter 2:Eligibility • Section 5: Financial eligibility
Count retroactive payments as unearned income in the month of receipt except: » When retroactive payments are made through the representative payee of an individual who is required to have a representative payee because of drug addiction or alcoholism. In these situations, the retroactive payments may be required to be made in installments. If the payments are made in installments, the total of the benefits to be paid in installments is considered unearned income in the month in which the first installment is made. » Except for MSP, any remaining amount from a retroactive payment after the month of receipt is counted as an excluded resource for nine calendar months following the month in which the payment is received. After the nine-month period, any remaining amount is a countable resource. • For SNAP, the representative payee fee paid by a participant who is required by the Social Security Administration to receive payments through a representative payee is excluded. The amount of the exclusion is limited to the amount authorized by the Social Security Administration. The representative payee must be a community-based nonprofit social services agency which is bonded or licensed by the state. For HSD medical programs, Social Security benefits and Social Security Disability Income are considered in the following way: Generally, Social Security benefits (SSB) and Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) are countable under both MAGI-based (monthly) and MAGI (annual) income methodology. However, special income exceptions apply to: (a) Children under age 19 who have income and who reside with their parents; (b) Adult children (age 19+) who have income and who reside with their parents and are claimed as a tax dependent by their parents; and (c) Tax dependents of any age who have income and who reside with their tax filers where the tax filers are not the parents of the tax dependent. The determination of whether a child/tax dependent’s income is countable or excluded depends on whether the child/tax dependent’s income meets or exceeds the applicable IRS income filing threshold requiring the individual to file federal taxes. (a) If the child or tax dependent’s income meets or exceeds the applicable IRS threshold, requiring the individual to file federal taxes, the child/tax dependent’s income is countable for their own EDG and all EDGs for whom they are an EDG member of. (b) If the child’s income is under the applicable IRS threshold, the child is not required to file taxes. Thus, the child’s income is excluded for their own EDG and all other EDGs whom the child is an EDG member of. (c) If the tax dependent’s income is under the applicable IRS threshold, the tax dependent is not required to file taxes. The tax dependent’s income is excluded for the tax filer and tax filer’s children’s EDGs, however, is countable for the tax dependent. This is because the tax filer is never included in the tax dependent’s EDG. If the tax dependent’s EDG includes siblings, the tax dependent’s income is also countable towards the siblings’ EDG. When the child/tax dependent receives SSB/SSDI, a calculation must be performed to determine if the SSB/SSDI is taxable before determining if the child/tax dependent is required to file federal taxes. If none of the SSB/SSDI is taxable, none of the SSB/SSDI is countable unless the child/tax dependent has other income requiring the child/ tax