A

A & A - see Aid and Attendance.

AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) - A program in existence prior to 1/2/97 designed to provide financial assistance to children in need due to absence, unemployment of both parents or incapacity of one or both parents.

ARW - (Administrative Rules of Wyoming) - The Secretary of State's Office is the repository for rules and regulations, and provides this centralized system to promote transparency and ease of access to rules by state agencies and the public . Individual agencies who have rule making authority are responsible for the promulgation and content of rules and regulations.

ASVI (Alien Status Verification Index) - T he automated database maintained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) which may be accessed by State agencies to verify immigration status.

Absence -

A. Continued absence - when the parent is physically away from the home and is not exercising parental care and control, cannot be counted on to help plan the care and control of the child and the return to the home is not expected for at least 30 days (see Care and Control).

B. Temporary absence - When a client leaves the state with the intent to return to Wyoming within three months or meets the conditions specified in M601 or M605

Absent parent - any parent who is not providing care and control of the child(ren) or who cannot be counted on to function in the planning for the physical care, guidance and maintenance of the child(ren).

Access -

A. Ability, or potential ability, to obtain or make use of a resource or income;

B. Access is either restricted (requires the signature of another person or specifies the condition of disposal) or unrestricted (no other signature is required or condition imposed). (see Available)

Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Account - Type of tax‐advantaged account that an eligible individual can use to save funds for the Qualified Disability Expenses, who was blind or disabled before age 26. An eligible individual can be the designated beneficiary of only one ABLE account, which must be administered by a qualified ABLE program. Wyoming has not approved these accounts to be established in our state. However; this does not exclude Wyoming Medicaid from exempting an ABLE account from a state who has approved ABLE accounts in their state.

A. Qualified Disability Expenses - in general but not limit to education, housing, transportation, employment training and support, assistive technology and related services, health, prevention and wellness, financial management and administrative services, legal fees, expenses for ABLE account oversight and monitoring, funeral and burial; and basic living expenses.

B. Qualified Disability Expense ﴾QDE﴿ for housing - Housing expenses for purposes of an ABLE account are payments for mortgage ﴾including property insurance required by the mortgage holder﴿; real property taxes; rent; Heating fuel; Gas; electricity; water; sewer; or garbage removal.

Adequate notice - see Notice of adverse action.

Administrative hearing/Disqualification Hearing - a formal hearing conducted within established legal proceedings with a duly appointed hearing officer.

Adult - a person age 18 or older or a person under age 18 who meets the Wyoming emancipation laws.

Adverse action - a decision to deny, decrease or terminate the benefits.

Aged - A person 65 years of age or older.

Aged, Blind and Disabled – applies to individuals in need of professional care provided at home, in a nursing home, hospital or intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded. These groups are Nursing Home, HCBS, TB, Hospice, Inpatient Hospital Care, EID, QMB/SLMB, and the SSI Groups.

Agency error (AG) - an incorrect action or failure to take action by the Agency or a contractor of the Agency .

Aid and Attendance (A & A) - optional financial assistance available from the Veteran’s Administration (VA) for an applicant or recipient receiving care in a licensed and certified Medicaid facility as determined by WDH.

Alimony - see Support.

Annuity - An annuity is a contract or agreement where an individual receives fixed, non variable payments on an investment for a lifetime or a specified number of years. A commercial (non-employment related) annuity purchased by or for an individual using that individuals assets will be considered an available resource unless it meets exemption criteria outlined in Table 8 .

Applicant - a person, including an authorized representative, who expresses verbally or in writing a desire to make application for benefits and all individuals included in a completed, signed and filed application.

Application - the form on which a person indicates, in writing, the desire to receive assistance, provides information necessary for determining eligibility and informs the client of her/his rights and responsibilities.

Appointment of Conservator - the legal document appointing a conservator to care and manage the affairs of another person.

Appointment of Guardianship - the legal document appointing a guardian to care and manage the affairs of another person.

Assessment -

A. The act of evaluating a person, condition, resources or income.

B. For Medicaid, a determination of the total combined resources available to a married couple when one spouse enters a medical institution and the other spouse continues to live in the community.

Assignment of rights - Any assignment of the rights to support, or any assignment of rights to medical support and to payment for medical care from any third party. This assignment includes child and spousal support and is a condition of eligibility of POWER or Title IV Part E, Foster Care. This allows the state to retain support payments as partial reimbursement of public assistance expenditures made on behalf of the custodial parent and/or the child(ren).

Assistance Unit - consists of a person or persons who are living or traveling together and have a financial responsibility for one another.

Available - income and resources are considered when actually obtainable and when the applicant/recipient has legal interest in a liquidated sum and has the legal ability to make such sum available for support and maintenance. (see Access)

Average private pay rate - the average statewide cost of care for nursing facility services as determined by WDH.