Medical Assistance for People Who Are Age 65 or Older or People Who Are Blind or Have a Disability

2.3.3.2.2 Asset Deeming

To deem assets is to count one person’s assets in the calculation of another person’s assets. This policy indicates whose assets must be deemed to a person for Medical Assistance for People Who Are Age 65 or Older and People Who Are Blind or Have a Disability (MA-ABD). This policy also applies to the Medicare Savings Program (MSP). See the MSP chapter for more information.

Asset deeming requirements are not the same as household composition rules. People may be counted in a person’s household size without having their assets deemed to another member of a household.

Whose assets are deemed to a person is determined separately for each person.

Assets of a Spouse

Except in the situations noted below, the assets of a spouse are deemed to a person if they live together. If a person is not divorced but is legally separated from their spouse, and continues to live in the same household, the spouse’s assets are deemed.

The assets of a spouse are not deemed to the person when:

The spouses do not live together.
The person is applying for or is enrolled in MA for Employed Persons with Disabilities (MA-EPD). This includes the spouse’s share of jointly held assets.
The person was enrolled in MA-EPD for 24 consecutive months before the month in which they turned age 65 and there has not been a break in basic MA coverage of more than one calendar month.
The enrollee is on the Community Access for Disability Inclusion (CADI), Community Alternatives Care (CAC), Developmental Disabilities (DD) or Brain Injury (BI) waivers.

Assets of Other Household members

Assets are not deemed from:

A child to a parent
Sibling to sibling

Legal Citations

Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.056, subdivision 1a

Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.056, subdivision 3