HF 3196

as introduced - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to human services; modifying the treatment of 
  1.3             income for institutionalized spouses under the medical 
  1.4             assistance program; amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, 
  1.5             section 256B.058, subdivision 2; Minnesota Statutes 
  1.6             1995 Supplement, section 256B.0575. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1995 Supplement, section 
  1.9   256B.0575, is amended to read: 
  1.10     256B.0575 [AVAILABILITY OF INCOME FOR INSTITUTIONALIZED 
  1.11  PERSONS.] 
  1.12     When an institutionalized person is determined eligible for 
  1.13  medical assistance, the income that exceeds the deductions in 
  1.14  paragraphs (a) and (b) must be applied to the cost of 
  1.15  institutional care.  
  1.16     (a) The following amounts must be deducted from the 
  1.17  institutionalized person's income in the following order: 
  1.18     (1) the personal needs allowance under section 256B.35 or, 
  1.19  for a veteran who does not have a spouse or child, or a 
  1.20  surviving spouse of a veteran having no child, the amount of an 
  1.21  improved pension received from the veteran's administration not 
  1.22  exceeding $90 per month; 
  1.23     (2) the personal allowance for disabled individuals under 
  1.24  section 256B.36; 
  1.25     (3) if the institutionalized person has a legally appointed 
  1.26  guardian or conservator, five percent of the recipient's gross 
  2.1   monthly income up to $100 as reimbursement for guardianship or 
  2.2   conservatorship services; 
  2.3      (4) a monthly income allowance determined under section 
  2.4   256B.058, subdivision 2, but only to the extent income of the 
  2.5   institutionalized spouse is made available to the community 
  2.6   spouse or ex-spouse; 
  2.7      (5) a monthly allowance for children under age 18 which, 
  2.8   together with the net income of the children, would provide 
  2.9   income equal to the medical assistance standard for families and 
  2.10  children according to section 256B.056, subdivision 4, for a 
  2.11  family size that includes only the minor children.  This 
  2.12  deduction applies only if the children do not live with the 
  2.13  community spouse; 
  2.14     (6) a monthly family allowance for other family members, 
  2.15  equal to one-third of the difference between 122 percent of the 
  2.16  federal poverty guidelines and the monthly income for that 
  2.17  family member; 
  2.18     (7) reparations payments made by the Federal Republic of 
  2.19  Germany and reparations payments made by the Netherlands for 
  2.20  victims of Nazi persecution between 1940 and 1945; and 
  2.21     (8) amounts for reasonable expenses incurred for necessary 
  2.22  medical or remedial care for the institutionalized spouse that 
  2.23  are not medical assistance covered expenses and that are not 
  2.24  subject to payment by a third party.  
  2.25     For purposes of clause (6), "other family member" means a 
  2.26  person who resides with the community spouse and who is a minor 
  2.27  or dependent child, dependent parent, or dependent sibling of 
  2.28  either spouse.  "Dependent" means a person who could be claimed 
  2.29  as a dependent for federal income tax purposes under the 
  2.30  Internal Revenue Code. 
  2.31     (b) Income shall be allocated to an institutionalized 
  2.32  person for a period of up to three calendar months, in an amount 
  2.33  equal to the medical assistance standard for a family size of 
  2.34  one if:  
  2.35     (1) a physician certifies that the person is expected to 
  2.36  reside in the long-term care facility for three calendar months 
  3.1   or less; 
  3.2      (2) if the person has expenses of maintaining a residence 
  3.3   in the community; and 
  3.4      (3) if one of the following circumstances apply:  
  3.5      (i) the person was not living together with a spouse or a 
  3.6   family member as defined in paragraph (a) when the person 
  3.7   entered a long-term care facility; or 
  3.8      (ii) the person and the person's spouse become 
  3.9   institutionalized on the same date, in which case the allocation 
  3.10  shall be applied to the income of one of the spouses.  
  3.11  For purposes of this paragraph, a person is determined to be 
  3.12  residing in a licensed nursing home, regional treatment center, 
  3.13  or medical institution if the person is expected to remain for a 
  3.14  period of one full calendar month or more. 
  3.15     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 256B.058, 
  3.16  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.17     Subd. 2.  [MONTHLY INCOME ALLOWANCE FOR COMMUNITY SPOUSE.] 
  3.18  (a) For an institutionalized spouse with a spouse residing in 
  3.19  the community, monthly income may be allocated to the community 
  3.20  spouse as a monthly income allowance for the community spouse.  
  3.21  Beginning with the first full calendar month the 
  3.22  institutionalized spouse is in the institution, the monthly 
  3.23  income allowance is not considered available to the 
  3.24  institutionalized spouse for monthly payment of costs of care in 
  3.25  the institution as long as the income is made available to the 
  3.26  community spouse. 
  3.27     (b) The monthly income allowance is the amount by which the 
  3.28  community spouse's monthly maintenance needs allowance under 
  3.29  paragraphs (c) and (d) exceeds the amount of monthly income 
  3.30  otherwise available to the community spouse.  
  3.31     (c) The community spouse's monthly maintenance needs 
  3.32  allowance is the lesser of $1,500 or 122 percent of the monthly 
  3.33  federal poverty guideline for a family of two plus an excess 
  3.34  shelter allowance.  The excess shelter allowance is for the 
  3.35  amount of shelter expenses that exceed 30 percent of 122 percent 
  3.36  of the federal poverty guideline line for a family of two.  
  4.1   Shelter expenses are the community spouse's expenses for rent, 
  4.2   mortgage payments including principal and interest, taxes, 
  4.3   insurance, required maintenance charges for a cooperative or 
  4.4   condominium that is the community spouse's principal residence, 
  4.5   and the standard utility allowance under section 5(e) of the 
  4.6   federal Food Stamp Act of 1977.  If the community spouse has a 
  4.7   required maintenance charge for a cooperative or condominium, 
  4.8   the standard utility allowance must be reduced by the amount of 
  4.9   utility expenses included in the required maintenance charge.  
  4.10     If the community or institutionalized spouse establishes 
  4.11  that the community spouse needs income greater than the monthly 
  4.12  maintenance needs allowance determined in this paragraph due to 
  4.13  exceptional circumstances resulting in significant financial 
  4.14  duress, the monthly maintenance needs allowance may be increased 
  4.15  to an amount that provides needed additional income.  
  4.16     (d) The percentage of the federal poverty guideline used to 
  4.17  determine the monthly maintenance needs allowance in paragraph 
  4.18  (c) is increased to 133 percent on July 1, 1991, and to 150 
  4.19  percent on July 1, 1992.  Adjustments in the income limits due 
  4.20  to annual changes in the federal poverty guidelines shall be 
  4.21  implemented the first day of July following publication of the 
  4.22  annual changes.  The $1,500 maximum must be adjusted January 1, 
  4.23  1990, and every January 1 after that by the same percentage 
  4.24  increase in the consumer price index for all urban consumers 
  4.25  (all items; United States city average) between the two previous 
  4.26  Septembers. 
  4.27     (e) If a court has entered an order against an 
  4.28  institutionalized spouse for monthly income for support of the 
  4.29  community spouse or ex-spouse, the community spouse's or 
  4.30  ex-spouse's monthly income allowance under this subdivision 
  4.31  shall not be less than the amount of the monthly income ordered.