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Jenny completes a Self-Employment Income Report form for February 17–February 28 (actual income since the significant change in circumstance occurred), and for March and April using a best estimate of income. The worker uses these three months (February, March, and April) to determine a prospective self-employment income estimate for the remainder of the certification period (through November 2016). Use the average until the member’s next renewal, until the person completes an IRS tax form, or until a significant change in circumstances is reported between renewals. 16.4.3.4.4 Backdated Months Self-employment income is averaged over the number of months the business has been in operation in a tax year or anticipated based on an average of SEIRFs. It is not based on exact income for a single month, as that does not take into consideration seasonal work and fluctuating income for the business. If an individual had applied in a backdated month, eligibility would not be determined on the basis of one month of self-employment income; instead, eligibility would be based on an average of at least three months of income. When a self-employed applicant or member requests backdated benefits for health care, workers must do the following: 1. Average self-employment income for the application month forward (to determine ongoing eligibility). 2. Determine eligibility for the backdated months as if the applicant or member had applied in the earliest backdated month requested:

If income is reported via federal taxes, the tax filing year has not changed, and no significant change in circumstances has occurred, the same averaged income and expenses from the tax forms can be used for ongoing and backdated eligibility.

In all other scenarios, workers must consider SEIRFs and the average to be counted if that earliest month was the application month. If estimates would have been used, but the month has passed, actual information should be provided on the SEIRFs. 3. Consider any significant changes that occurred during the backdated months that would require a new average to be calculated for the second and/or third month. If there has not been a significant change or a change in the tax filing year during the backdated months, the average calculated for the earliest month can be used throughout the backdated months. Example 7 Maggie applied for BadgerCare Plus in June and requested backdated eligibility to March. She has been self-employed as a seamstress since February of the same year. She does not file taxes. For the application month of June, SEIRFs would be used for all available months – February, March, April, and May to budget average income for the month of June and ongoing. If she had applied in March, her income would have been averaged based on actual income for the months of February, March, and April, so SEIRFs for February, March, and April would be used for determining her eligibility for BadgerCare Plus for the backdated months of March, April, and May.

Example 8 Glenn applied for BadgerCare Plus in September and requested backdated eligibility to June. He has been self-employed as a farmer but reported having a true significant change in circumstances in May. For the application month of September, SEIRFs would be used for all months since the significant change – May, June, July, and August to budget average income for the month of September and ongoing.