Minnesota Health Care Programs (MHCP) consider income in determining eligibility, benefit level and spenddown or premium amounts. To be eligible for most health care programs the client's income must be less than or equal to the appropriate income limit. Income limits and calculations differ by program and by the client's basis of eligibility.
This chapter provides information on how to treat different types of income. For more information on how to calculate income, see Income Calculation (Community) or Long-Term Care (LTC) Income Calculation.
Income Index (in alphabetical order by type of income).
Income is cash or in-kind benefits available to a client and not established as an asset. Income is divided into two major categories, earned and unearned:
l Earned income is cash or in-kind benefits received in return for work or services, including employment and self-employment.
l Unearned income is cash or in-kind benefits received without being required to perform any work or service. See Earned and Unearned Income.
Income is either counted or not counted. Income may not be counted if it is unavailable or if it is excluded by law. Income is usually counted in the month it is received. Each health care program uses a different set of rules to determine if income is counted or not counted:
l Generally, MA for families and children uses the rules of the former Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program to determine counted income. This set of rules is called Method A. Method A includes policies that are more liberal than those of the former AFDC.
l Generally, MA for aged, blind and disabled uses the rules of the Social Security Income (SSI) program to determine counted income. This set of rules is called Method B. Method B includes policies that are more restrictive than SSI, as well as policies that are more liberal than SSI.
l MinnesotaCare usually follows Method A, unless specifically noted otherwise.
l MA-EPD and Medicare Savings Programs usually follow Method B, unless specifically noted otherwise.
Whether income is counted depends on the type of income.
l Certain transactions involving income are not counted as income to the client for all health care programs. See Conversion of Assets.
l Some types of income are excluded from income for all health care programs. See Excluded Income.
l Some types of income are counted (in whole or in part) by some health care programs and not counted by other health care programs.
A client’s gross income is the total of all counted earned and unearned income before any program-specific deductions or disregards. MinnesotaCare uses gross income to determine if a client has income at or below the income limit. MA-EPD also uses gross income to determine the monthly premium amount. See Income Calculation (Community).
For some programs, certain types or amounts of income are deducted or disregarded from gross income to arrive at a client's net income. Deductions and disregards can apply to earned income, unearned income or both. MA Method A, MA Method B and Medicare Savings Programs use net income to determine if a client has income at or below the income limit.
Clients must verify most types of income. For information on the types of income that must be verified, when to require verification, and examples of acceptable verification, see Income Verification.
Below is a list of each type of income discussed in the manual. Links are provided to the section that explains how to count the specific type of income.
l Academic Competitiveness Grants.
l Academic Achievement Incentive Scholarships.
l Adoption Assistance payments.
l Agent Orange Settlement Fund payments.
l AmeriCorps State and National payments.
l Austrian Reparation payments (also called Austrian Social Insurance payments).
l Awards.
l BEOG Grants.
l Bills Paid by a Third Party.
l Blood and blood plasma sales.
l Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Student Assistance.
l Byrd Honors Scholarship Program.
l Cash withdrawn from financial account.
l Child Care Assistance Under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act.
l Child Income.
l Clergy housing, reimbursements.
l College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP).
l Commissions..
l Community Service Employment Program (Title V of the Older Americans Act).
l Consumer Support Grant (CSG).
l Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) payments.
l Costs to secure unearned income.
l Credit life insurance payments.
l Credit disability insurance payments.
l Disability payments that are part of the employer's benefit package.
l Diversionary Work Programs (DWP).
l Dividends.
l Domestic Volunteer Service Act payments.
l Elder Supplemental Assistance Program.
l Emergency Assistance payments.
l Family Support Grant payments.
l Farm Income.
l Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program.
l Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants (FSEOG).
l Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program.
l Fellowships.
l Food Stamps.
l Ford Federal Direct Loan Program.
l Fund Raisers.
l Garnishments.
l Gear Up.
l Gifts.
l Gifts for Prosthetic Devices.
l Gifts to children with life-threatening conditions.
l Grants.
l Group Residential Housing (GRH) Vendor payments.
l High School Equivalency Program (HEP).
l Home Produce.
l Honoraria.
l Housing allowances for clergy.
l Individual Development Accounts (IDAs).
l Inheritances.
l Interest.
l Irregular or Infrequent income.
l Japanese and Aleutian Restitution payments.
l Japanese Persecution, Payments to Victims of.
l Jury duty.
l Jury Duty, out-of-pocket reimbursements.
l Leveraging Education Assistance Program (LEAP).
l Loans.
l Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
l Lump sums.
l Medicare Part B reimbursements.
l McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement.
l Military Salary, hostile fire.
l Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP).
l Minnesota Supplemental Aid (MSA).
l National and Community Service Act of 1990.
l National and Community Service Models.
l National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grants.
l Nazi Persecution, Payments to Victims of.
l Netherlands Act (WUV) Payments to Victims of Nazi Persecution.
l Netherlands Act (WUV) Payments to Victims of Japanese Persecution.
l North Vietnam, DOD Payments to Certain Persons Captured and Interned.
l Overpayments.
l Pell Grants.
l Prizes.
l Railway Retirement payments.
l Refugee Resettlement Grants.
l Refunds for Security and Utility Deposits.
l Reimbursements for Expenses.
l Reimbursements for Medical Expenses.
l Reimbursements for Property.
l Relative Custody Assistance payments.
l Representative payee misuse.
l Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).
l Retirement Survivors and Disability Insurance (RSDI).
l Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund payments.
l Royalties.
l Salary.
l Scholarships.
l Senior Corps.
l Sick pay.
l Special and Demonstration Volunteer Program.
l Special Leveraging Educations Partnership (SLEAP) Program.
l State Student Incentive Grant Program.
l Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (SEOG).
l Supplemental Loans for Students.
l Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
l Tax credits.
l Tax rebates.
l Tax refunds.
l Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grants.
l Tips.
l Trade Adjustment Reform Act of 2002, employment supports.
l Trade Adjustment Reform Act, training.
l University Year for VISTA (UYV).
l Urban Crime Prevention Program.
l Upward Bound.
l Vacation donation compensation.
l Vacation pay.
l Veterans Administration benefits.
l Veterans Benefits for educational assistance.
l Veterans Children with Certain Birth Defects, Payments to.
l Victims Compensation Payments.
l Vietnamese Commando Compensation Act Payments.
l Vocational Rehabilitation payments.
l Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA).
l Wages.
l Winnings.
l Withholdings.
l Women, Infant and Children (WIC).
l Workforce Investment Act (WIA ) training income.