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Aged, Blind and Disabled Manual Policy Manual Number: 110.035 Section: Financial Eligibility Requirements Chapter: ABD Income Disregards and Expenses

January 5, 2026 Division of TennCare 3 c. Earned Income Deduction The first $65 of the earned income of each aged, blind or disabled individual is disregarded when determining financial eligibility. This is also known as the work expense disregard.

d. Impairment-Related and Blind Work Expenses i. Overview The gross countable earned income of each blind or disabled individual not living in a medical institution may be reduced by the amount of expenses attributable to earning the income. The allowable Blind or Blind and Disabled Work Expenses (BWE) and allowable Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWE) are not the same.

BWE and IRWE apply only to earned income. In order to deduct either BWE or IRWE, the individual must be:

1. Blind or disabled; and 2. Under age 65; or 3. Age 65 or older and received SSI payments due to blindness or disability the month before attaining age 65.

Work expenses must be verified and documented with receipts, etc. Work expenses must not be payable or reimbursable by a third party, such as Medicaid, Medicare or other insurance.

ii. Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWE) IRWE are expenses for items or services which are directly related to enabling a person with a disability to work and which are necessarily incurred by that individual because of a physical or mental impairment.

A payment for a service or item is excludable as an IRWE when:

1. The individual is disabled and under age 65, or received SSI as a disabled person for the month before attaining age 65; 2. The severity of the impairment requires the individual to purchase or rent items and services in order to work; 3. The expense is reasonable; 4. The cost is paid in cash (cash, check, money orders or credit cards) by the individual; and 5. The payment is made in a month the individual receives earned income for a month in which she both worked and received the services or used the item; or 6. The individual is working but makes a payment before the earned income is received.