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If the payments received by the live-in care provider meet all of these criteria, they are not counted when determining eligibility for BadgerCare Plus. If the payments received by the live-in care provider do not meet all of these criteria, the payments must be treated like other countable earnings or self- employment income. (See SECTION 16.4.4.2 LIVE-IN CARE PROVIDERS for verification of payments to live-in care providers and the Verifying Tax-Exempt Income for Live-in Care Providers Form (F-02193)). 48. ABLE Accounts ABLE accounts are tax-sheltered money market savings accounts specifically designed for people with disabilities. Anyone may contribute to these accounts for the disabled beneficiary. While Wisconsin does not offer residents a state-specific ABLE program, Wisconsin residents may open these accounts in any state where an ABLE program is offered. If an applicant or member has an ABLE account, treat the money in the account as follows: • Do not count contributions to the account from someone other than the member, any interest or dividends earned, or other appreciation in value as income. Note Someone using their earned or unearned income to contribute to an ABLE account does not make the income exempt for purposes of Medicaid eligibility. Income received by the designated beneficiary and deposited into their ABLE account is still income to the designated beneficiary. For example, an applicant can have contributions automatically deducted from their paycheck and deposited into an ABLE account. In this case, the income used to make the ABLE account contribution is included in the Medicaid eligibility determination as income, even though the ABLE account is an exempt asset. • Exempt all distributions from these accounts to the beneficiary as long as they are for qualified disability expenses and are not more than the beneficiary’s qualified disability expenses. “Qualified disability expenses” means any expenses related to the eligible person’s blindness or disability that are incurred for the benefit of an eligible person who is the designated beneficiary. This includes the following expenses: education, housing, transportation, employment training and support, assistive technology and personal support services, health, prevention and wellness, financial management and administrative services, legal fees, expenses for oversight and monitoring, funeral and burial expenses, and other expenses consistent with the purposes of the ABLE program. Unless the person reports that a distribution was used for nonqualifying expenses, it should be assumed that the distribution was used for qualified disability expenses. ABLE account funds remaining after a member’s death are subject to estate recovery. Note If a third party contributes to someone else’s ABLE account and then later applies for long-term care Medicaid, the contributed funds may be considered divestment. 49. Income Allocated to a Community Spouse When spouses are filing taxes separately and one spouse enrolled in Institutional Medicaid and allocates income to the spouse still living in the community, do not count this income when determining BadgerCare Plus eligibility for the spouse living in the community. Example 11 Jenny resides in a nursing home and is enrolled in Institutional Medicaid. Her husband, Kevin, lives in the community and is applying for BadgerCare Plus. Jenny and Kevin file taxes separately. Jenny has income from Social Security and a pension. She allocates $1,100 of her monthly income to Kevin as the community spouse. Do not count this allocation when determining Kevin’s BadgerCare Plus eligibility.