Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 016 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Division 28 - Division of County Operations › Rule 016.28.23-004 - Act 923 - Independence Accounts

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
Medical Services Policy Manual, Section E
E-500 Resources - Aid to the Aged, Blind, and Disabled
				(AABD)
Resources are generally defined as those assets, including both
				real and personal property, which an individual, or couple, possesses.
				Resources include all liquid assets as well as those assets which are not
				presently in liquid form. Liquid assets are those assets that can be easily
				converted to cash such as checking or savings accounts, certificates of deposit
				or life insurance policies with a cash surrender value.
In order for assets to be considered as resources, property or
				an interest in property must have a cash value that is available to the
				individual upon disposition.
Countable resources will be determined on the first day of the
				month. When resource eligibility exists at the beginning of a month, it
				continues for the full month. A resource change that occurs during a month in
				which resource eligibility exists will not be considered for determination of
				countable resources until the first of the month following the change.
When an individual is ineligible at the beginning of a month
				due to excess resources, ineligibility due to resources exists for the full
				month.
Note:
When an individual
				is unaware of ownership of an asset, the asset is not counted as a resource. A
				discovered liquid asset will be counted as income in the month of discovery and
				as a resource in the months following. Non-liquid assets will be counted as a
				resource in the month of discovery and thereafter.
Assets which have been received during the month and considered
				as income may not also be counted with resources during the same month (unless
				the income received is given away during the month it is received. Refer to MS
				H-323). For example, if an individual had a checking account balance of one
				thousand nine hundred fifty dollars ($1,950) as of June 1, the receipt of an
				SSA check of three hundred dollars ($300) during June would not cause the
				individual's resource limit of two thousand dollars ($2,000) to be exceeded
				during June even if the entire check was deposited in the checking account. The
				individual's resource eligibility would not be affected by the receipt of
				income during the month. It would only be affected if the income was retained
				to the extent that it caused the limit of two thousand dollars ($2,000) to be
				exceeded as of the beginning of July.
SSI lump sum benefits (never counted as income) will be
				excluded from resource consideration for nine (9) full months after the month
				of receipt (Refer to MS E-410 #3 and E-523 #6). SSA lump sum payments also have
				the nine (9) month resource exclusion but will count as income in the month of
				receipt.
Interest earned on the excluded funds will be counted as income
				in the month accrued and, if retained, as a resource in the month
				following.
Each individual must be advised of how countable resources are
				determined and how resource changes can affect eligibility.
Note:
An amount up to the
				amount of benefits paid out by a Qualified Long Term Care Insurance Partnership
				policy may be used as a resource disregard when determining eligibility for
				Health Care (Refer to MS H-510).
When determining eligibility and cost sharing requirements for
				Long Term Services and Supports categories, assets accumulated in an
				individual's Independence Account during or after an individual's enrollment in
				Workers with Disability (WWD) category will be excluded. Accounts that may be
				designated as Independence Accounts may be funded by any income or assets from
				retirement benefits earned or accumulated from employment income or employer
				contributions (including retirement or pension accounts through an employer)
				while the person was employed and eligible for and receiving WWD benefits. The
				exclusion also applies to any interest and earnings accrued by the account
				during and subsequent to enrollment in WWD. These accounts must be held
				separate from other resources. DHS will review the Independence Accounts,
				including deposits and withdrawals, at each annual reevaluation.
NOTE:
No additional
				deposits into the account are allowed once the individual is no longer enrolled
				in WWD. Actions involving the Independence accounts are subject to standard
				eligibility rules relating to resources (for example: a transfer from the
				account for less than fair market value would be subject to transfer-of-asset
				rules).
NOTE:
Withdrawals from
				Independence accounts are subject to regular eligibility rules.
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RULES SUBMITTED FOR REPEAL
Rule #1: Social Services Block Grant Manual
Rule #2: Social Services Block Grant Pre-Expenditure
				Plan