Page 1

Aged, Blind and Disabled Manual; Section: Financial Eligibility Requirements; Policy Manual Number: 110.035; Chapter: ABD INCOME DISREGARDS AND EXPENSES

Legal Authority: 20 CFR 416.1112; 20 CFR 416.1124; 42 CFR 435.1005; Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1200-13-20-.06

1. Overview Certain types of income and verified expenses of an individual may be deducted or disregarded when determining financial eligibility for the ABD TennCare Medicaid categories. The types of income and expenses listed in this policy chapter are not deducted or disregarded when determining financial eligibility for Institutional Medicaid.

2. Unearned Income Disregards and Expenses a. Irregular or Infrequent Income The first $60.00 of unearned income received in a calendar quarter, if infrequent or irregular, is disregarded.

b. Child Support Disregard A child support payment (including child support arrearage) is a payment from an absent parent to or for a child to meet the child’s needs for food and shelter. When determining eligibility for a disabled child under age 18 or under age 22 and a student regularly attending school, and the child support payment is countable to the child, 1/3 of the child support amount received from an absent parent is excluded. The remaining 2/3 value is counted as unearned income in the month of receipt. c. General Deduction A $20 monthly General Deduction is allowed per Eligibility Determination Group (EDG). The $20 monthly General Deduction is first applied to any of the applicant’s unearned income. If any of the $20 deduction is not offset by unearned income, apply the remainder of the deduction to a spouse’s unearned income and then to the applicant’s earned income before applying the Earned Income Deduction. The $20 monthly General Income Disregard does not apply to in-kind support and maintenance valued at one-third of the Federal Benefit Rate (FBR) (i.e., the Value of One- Third Reduction (VTR)) or to income based on need.