WAC 182-519-0100 Eligibility for the medically needy program

Effective January 27, 2019

A person who meets the following conditions may be eligible for medically needy (MN) coverage under the special rules in chapter 182-513 WAC and chapter 182-515 WAC : Meets the institutional status requirements of WAC 182-513-1320 ; Resides in a medical institution as described in WAC 182-513-1395 .

A supplemental security income (SSI)-related person who lives in a medicaid agency-contracted alternate living facility may be eligible for MN coverage under WAC 182-513-1205 .

A person may be eligible for MN coverage under this chapter when he or she is: Not covered under subsection (1) and (2) of this section; and Eligible for categorically needy (CN) medical coverage in all other respects, except that his or her CN countable income is above the CN income standard.

MN coverage may be available if the person is: A child; A pregnant woman; A refugee; An SSI-related person, including an aged, blind, or disabled person, with countable income under the CN income standard, who is an ineligible spouse of an SSI recipient; or A hospice client with countable income above the special income level (SIL).

A person who is not eligible for CN medical who applies for MN coverage has the right to income deductions in addition to, or instead of, those used to calculate CN countable income. These deductions to income are applied to each month of the base period to calculate MN countable income: The agency disregards the difference between the medically needy income level (MNIL) described in WAC 182-519-0050 and the federal benefit rate (FBR) established by the Social Security Administration each year. The FBR is the one-person SSI payment standard; All health insurance premiums, except for medicare Part A through Part D premiums, expected to be paid by the person or family member during the base period or periods; Any allocations to a spouse or to dependents for an SSI-related person who is married or who has dependent children. Rules for allocating income are described in WAC 182-512-0900 through WAC 182-512-0960 ; For an SSI-related person who is married and lives in the same home as his or her spouse who receives home and community-based waiver services under chapter 182-515 WAC , an income deduction equal to the MNIL, minus the nonapplying spouse's income; and A child or pregnant woman applying for MN coverage is eligible for income deductions allowed under temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) and state family assistance (SFA) rules and not under the rules for CN programs based on the federal poverty level. See WAC 182-509-0001 (4) for exceptions to the TANF and SFA rules that apply to medical programs and not to the cash assistance program.

The MNIL for a person who qualifies for MN coverage under subsection (1) of this section is based on rules in chapter 182-513 WAC and chapter 182-515 WAC .

The MNIL for all other people is described in WAC 182-519-0050 . If a person has countable income at or below the MNIL, the person is certified as eligible for up to 12 months of MN medical coverage.

If a person has countable income over the MNIL, the countable income that exceeds the agency's MNIL standards is called "excess income."

A person with "excess income" is not eligible for MN coverage until the person gives the agency or its designee evidence of medical expenses incurred by that person, their spouse, or family members living in the home for whom they are financially responsible. See WAC 182-519-0110 (8). An expense is incurred when: The person receives medical treatment or medical supplies, is financially liable for the medical expense, and has not paid the bill; or The person pays for the expense within the current or retroactive base period under WAC 182-519-0110 .

Incurred medical expenses or obligations may be used to offset any portion of countable income that is over the MNIL. This is the process of meeting "spenddown."

The agency or its designee calculates the amount of a person's spenddown by multiplying the monthly excess income amount by the number of months in the certification period under WAC 182-519-0110 . The qualifying medical expenses must be greater than or equal to the total calculated spenddown amount.

A person who is considered for MN coverage under this chapter may not spenddown excess resources to become eligible for the MN program. Under this chapter, a person is ineligible for MN coverage if the person's resources exceed the program standard in WAC 182-519-0050 . A person who is considered for MN coverage under WAC 182-513-1395 , WAC 182-514-0250 or WAC 182-514-0263 is allowed to spenddown excess resources.

There is no automatic redetermination process for MN coverage. A person must apply for each eligibility period under the MN program.

A person who requests a timely administrative hearing under WAC 182-518-0025 is not eligible for continued benefits beyond the end of the original certification date under the MN program.

This is a reprint of the official rule as published by the Office of the Code Reviser . If there are previous versions of this rule, they can be found using the Legislative Search page .