2000 Minnesota Statutes

     256B.0575 Availability of income for institutionalized 
  persons. 

    When an institutionalized person is determined eligible for 
 medical assistance, the income that exceeds the deductions in 
 paragraphs (a) and (b) must be applied to the cost of 
 institutional care.  

    (a) The following amounts must be deducted from the 
 institutionalized person's income in the following order: 

    (1) the personal needs allowance under section 256B.35 or, 
 for a veteran who does not have a spouse or child, or a 
 surviving spouse of a veteran having no child, the amount of an 
 improved pension received from the veteran's administration not 
 exceeding $90 per month; 

    (2) the personal allowance for disabled individuals under 
 section 256B.36; 

    (3) if the institutionalized person has a legally appointed 
 guardian or conservator, five percent of the recipient's gross 
 monthly income up to $100 as reimbursement for guardianship or 
 conservatorship services; 

    (4) a monthly income allowance determined under section 
 256B.058, subdivision 2, but only to the extent income of the 
 institutionalized spouse is made available to the community 
 spouse; 

    (5) a monthly allowance for children under age 18 which, 
 together with the net income of the children, would provide 
 income equal to the medical assistance standard for families and 
 children according to section 256B.056, subdivision 4, for a 
 family size that includes only the minor children.  This 
 deduction applies only if the children do not live with the 
 community spouse and only to the extent that the deduction is 
 not included in the personal needs allowance under section 
 256B.35, subdivision 1, as child support garnished under a court 
 order; 

    (6) a monthly family allowance for other family members, 
 equal to one-third of the difference between 122 percent of the 
 federal poverty guidelines and the monthly income for that 
 family member; 

    (7) reparations payments made by the Federal Republic of 
 Germany and reparations payments made by the Netherlands for 
 victims of Nazi persecution between 1940 and 1945; 

    (8) all other exclusions from income for institutionalized 
 persons as mandated by federal law; and 

    (9) amounts for reasonable expenses incurred for necessary 
 medical or remedial care for the institutionalized spouse that 
 are not medical assistance covered expenses and that are not 
 subject to payment by a third party.  

    For purposes of clause (6), "other family member" means a 
 person who resides with the community spouse and who is a minor 
 or dependent child, dependent parent, or dependent sibling of 
 either spouse.  "Dependent" means a person who could be claimed 
 as a dependent for federal income tax purposes under the 
 Internal Revenue Code. 

    (b) Income shall be allocated to an institutionalized 
 person for a period of up to three calendar months, in an amount 
 equal to the medical assistance standard for a family size of 
 one if:  

    (1) a physician certifies that the person is expected to 
 reside in the long-term care facility for three calendar months 
 or less; 

    (2) if the person has expenses of maintaining a residence 
 in the community; and 

    (3) if one of the following circumstances apply:  

    (i) the person was not living together with a spouse or a 
 family member as defined in paragraph (a) when the person 
 entered a long-term care facility; or 

    (ii) the person and the person's spouse become 
 institutionalized on the same date, in which case the allocation 
 shall be applied to the income of one of the spouses.  

 For purposes of this paragraph, a person is determined to be 
 residing in a licensed nursing home, regional treatment center, 
 or medical institution if the person is expected to remain for a 
 period of one full calendar month or more. 

    HIST: 1986 c 444; 1989 c 282 art 3 s 49; 1990 c 568 art 3 s 
 37; 1991 c 292 art 4 s 40; 1Sp1993 c 1 art 5 s 32; 1995 c 207 
 art 6 s 30,125; 1996 c 451 art 2 s 10; 1999 c 245 art 4 s 35