Assets are items of value that people own like bank accounts, stocks and bonds, cars, and real estate.
All health care programs limit the amount of assets people can own to be eligible for coverage, although some people may be exempt from those limits, and the limits vary from program to program.
Not all assets are counted in the asset total. What is counted is the equity value of an asset. The asset total is compared to the asset limit. Clients who are over the asset limit are ineligible for coverage unless the excess assets are spent to within the asset limit.
Steps in Determining the Asset Total.
Throughout the Asset section of this manual the following definitions will be used when specifying whether or not a specific asset should be counted.
Liquid assets include cash and property that can be easily converted to cash, such as savings and checking accounts, stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit, retirement accounts, and money market accounts.
This is property that has a cash value only when sold, or is not easily converted to cash such as a home, a vehicle or a piece of property.
Land, which includes all buildings, structures, improvements, or other fixtures on the land, belonging or pertaining to the land and all mines, minerals, fossils, and trees on or under the land is real property. Life estates are real property, as is a mobile home if it is attached to a foundation on land owned by the unit.
Personal property is any asset that is not real property. Some personal property is counted toward the asset total such as accounts, stocks and bonds or a vehicle, while other personal property is not counted, reported or recorded, such as household goods.
Examples:
l A vehicle, boat or tools are examples of non-liquid, personal property.
l A checking account, stock or bonds are liquid personal property.
l A lake cabin and all the sand, trees and grass on it is real property.
The calculation method used to determine a client’s asset total varies by program and refers to specific factors applied in asset calculations.
The methods of asset calculation are:
l Method A - This method is used for the following:
n Clients with an MA Families and Children bases of eligibility.
n Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA).
n MinnesotaCare.
n GAMC Hospital Only (GHO).
l Method B - This method is used for the following:
n MA for people with a basis of eligibility of Age 65 and Over, Blind and Disabled.
n Employed Persons with Disabilities (MA-EPD).
Note: MA-EPD has additional exclusions and limits than other Method B programs.
n Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB).
n Service Limited Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB).
n Qualified Individuals (QI).
n Qualified Working Disabled Adult (QWD).
n MA Waiver Programs: Community Alternative Care (CAC), Community Alternatives for Disabled Individuals (CADI), Developmental Disabilities (DD), and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
n Elderly Waiver (EW) Program.
n GAMC.
Unless otherwise noted, follow instructions for the appropriate method relating to the applicant’s or enrollee’s health care program or basis of eligibility.
Steps in Determining the Asset Total
The steps in determining a client’s asset total are listed below:
1. Determine whether reported assets owned by a client or deemed to a client are excluded, unavailable or counted toward the asset total.
l Some people are exempt from having an asset limit and do not need their assets totaled. See Exemptions from Asset Limits.
l Do not count assets that are excluded. See Excluded Assets.
l Do not count assets that are unavailable to a client. See Availability of Assets.
2. Determine the equity value of assets that are counted in the asset total. See Asset Types.
3. Add the equity values of all assets which are determined to be counted toward the asset total.
4. Compare the client’s asset total to the asset limit based on the basis of eligibility and household size. See Asset Limits.
5. Determine if assets need to be verified. See Verification of Assets.
6. If the asset total is less than or equal to the asset limit, the client is asset eligible for that program.
7. If asset total exceeds the asset limit the client must reduce excess assets to be eligible. See Excess Assets.