Clarifying information

Individuals may be required to report the receipt of a one-time payment under WAC 182-504-0105 .

In some situations, individuals will know beforehand that they will receive a one-time payment. If this happens, we include the payment as countable income with the effective dates described in WAC 182-504-0120 . This may result in a suspension or termination of coverage.

In most situations, individuals will not know that they are going to receive a one-time payment until they actually have it. If so, the payment does not affect the individual's eligibility for coverage because the individual's eligibility is always based on the prospective budget for the next month and, therefore, always determined before the individual can report receipt of the one-time payment.

Some reasons all or part of the lump sum may become unavailable beyond the individual’s control include: The Individual loses the payment funds; The payment funds are stolen; and The Individual has unavoidable expenditures, such as medical bills or legal fees.

We exclude a portion of the lump sum payment for 60 days in order to give the individual time to use the money for its intended purpose (repair or replacement of damaged or lost property or to cover medical costs).

If an individual transfers the portion of the payment that counts as a resource for less than it is worth, they may have a period of ineligibility. See Transfer of an asset .

If an individual received a lump sum payment while living in another state and a period of ineligibility was established in that state, the period of ineligibility does not carry over to this state.

Compensatory awards, settlements, and retroactive benefits are often issued in several smaller payments instead of one large payment. These types of payments are considered unearned income.

Some lump sums are paid for previous time periods; these are considered retroactive lump sums. We can only count the portion of a lump sum payment that is for a previous period as a resource. We count any portion that is for the current period as income. However, with prospective budgeting we normally will not be able to budget the current month's income against the household’s benefits.

Example

Bill was laid off from his job at a chicken processing plant in March. He received $3,000 in severance pay and $1,200 payout for accrued vacation leave

Example

Sharon received a $6,000 lump sum payment of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits in April. Sharon’s award letter indicated that her disability was approved for a fixed period of time and she will not receive ongoing benefits. The letter shows that $5,300 is for a prior period of time, but $700 of the payment is for the current month and next month’s benefits.

Because the severance pay is not for a previous period, we must count it as income for March. We count any remaining amount as a resource in following months.

The payout of accrued vacation leave is for a previous period. We would count this portion of the payment as a resource.

We count the portion of the lump sum paid for prior months as a resource in April.

We count the $700 portion that is not for a previous period as Sharon’s income.