2006 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 person that are not medical assistance covered expenses and that are not
subject to payment by a third party.
Reasonable expenses are limited to expenses that have not been previously used as a
deduction from income and are incurred during the enrollee's current period of eligibility,
including retroactive months associated with the current period of eligibility, for medical
assistance payment of long-term care services.
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.
History: 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; 2002 c 277 s 10; 1Sp2005 c 4 art 8 s 27