Medical Assistance for People Who Are Age 65 or Older or People Who Are Blind or Have a Disability
2.3.3.2.7.1 Liquid Assets
Liquid assets include cash or any other types of assets that can be converted to cash within 20 workdays. Workdays are any days other than Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays. This section discusses the types of liquid assets and clarifies whether they count towards the person’s asset limit.
Evaluation of Liquid Assets
The total cash value of a liquid asset is counted towards the person’s asset limit unless the proof provided indicates that the asset is any of the following:
-
An Excluded Asset
-
An Unavailable Asset
-
A Jointly Owned Asset, for which the full value is not counted to each owner.
Income received in a given month is not an asset in that month. If retained beyond the month of receipt, income becomes a liquid asset.
Assumption of Liquidity
Absent evidence to the contrary, assume the following types of resources are liquid:
-
Bonds
-
Certificates of Deposit (CDs)
-
Checking accounts
-
Foreign Currency
-
Guardianship accounts. The total value of the guardianship account the person owns or the person or someone acting on behalf of the person has a legal right to use for the person’s support and maintenance is counted.
-
Money market account
-
Mortgages (Applicant or enrollee is the lender)
-
Mutual fund shares
-
Promissory notes (Applicant or enrollee is the lender)
-
Savings accounts
-
Social Welfare fund
-
Stocks. An applicant or enrollee may use stock listings to define the value of stocks.
-
Time deposits
-
Treasury Bills
-
U. S. Savings Bonds. An applicant or enrollee may use the Comprehensive Savings Bond Value table on the U.S. Bureau of Public Debt website or consult a bank to define the value of a savings bond.
-
Virtual currency that has a value in real currency or acts as a substitute for real currency.
Assumption of Non-Liquidity
Absent evidence to the contrary, the following types of assets are assumed not to be liquid:
-
Automobiles, trucks, tractors and other vehicles
-
Buildings, land and other real property rights
-
Household goods and personal effects
-
Machinery and livestock
-
Non-cash business property
Jointly Owned Liquid Assets
When more than one person is listed on the account as the account owner, or listed as an authorized signer, the account is considered jointly owned.
Ownership Assumption
When an applicant or enrollee jointly owns an account with someone who is not eligible or applying for MA, we assume that all the funds in the account belong to the applicant or enrollee.
Account holders include one or more applicants or enrollees
If there is more than one applicant or enrollee, assume all of the funds in the account belong to the applicant(s) or enrollee(s), in equal shares.
Account holders include one or more deemors who are not MA applicants or enrollees
When none of the account holders is an applicant or enrollee, assume all of the funds in the account belong to the deemor(s), in equal shares, if there is more than one deemor.
Assumption Dispute
The applicant, enrollee or deemor has the right to dispute the ownership assumption. The assumption dispute must occur at every determination or redetermination to overcome the ownership assumption.
To dispute the ownership assumption the person must provide a completed DHS-8511, or a separate written statement that provides the information requested on the form , including:
- A corroborating statement from all other account holders, and;
- Account records showing deposits, withdrawals, and interest in the months where ownership is contested
Dispute Outcome
If the agency determines the applicant, enrollee, or deemor:
- does not own any of the funds, they must provide proof they have removed themselves as owner of the account.
- owns only a portion of the funds in the account, the person must provide proof:
-
they are removed themselves as an owner of the account and their proportionate share of the funds, if any, to have the account removed from current and retro countable income, or
-
of removal of funds owned by the other account holder(s), and the other account owners removed themselves as an owner of the account. The remaining balance of the account is applied to the current and retro countable income.
-
When the person does not provide proof they removed themselves, or other account holders from the account, the ownership assumption is not overcome and all of the funds are applied to the person’s countable income.
Effects on LTC Eligibility
The person must provide proof they removed their proportionate share of the funds prior to removing their name from the account to avoid a LTC transfer penalty.
Other Jointly Owned Assets
These general provisions are followed when evaluating other joint ownerships:
Uniform Gift to Minors Act/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act
The full value of assets established under the Uniform Gift to Minors Act/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UGMA/UTMA) is excluded.
An adult designated to receive, maintain and manage custodial property on behalf of a minor beneficiary is not the owner of UGMA/UTMA assets because he or she cannot legally use any of the funds for his or her support and maintenance.
Payable on Death Beneficiaries
Payable on Death (POD) beneficiaries do not have an ownership interest in an asset.
Legal Citations
Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.056, subdivision 1a