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IMA POLICY MANUAL
PART VI: FINANCIAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Chapter 1: Determining Countable Assets
Jointly Owned Assets 1.16
| ALL |
Jointly owned assets are those that have more than one owner.
The amount which is counted depends on whether the asset is available to the owner in the asset group and on whether the asset has cash or equity value. |
Unavailable Jointly Owned Assets 1.16.1
| ALL |
The asset is unavailable if:
- An owner cannot legally sell his/her share without the other owner's consent, and
- The owner verifies that the joint owner does not agree to the sale.
In addition, any asset owned by residents of shelters for battered women and children is unavailable when:
- The asset is jointly owned with a member of the former group, or
- Access to the asset is dependent on the cooperation of the joint owner who still resides in the former group.
Exclude all unavailable assets.
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Available Jointly Owned Assets 1.16.2
| MA |
AR N/A
AX: N/A
SR (excluding SSI Recipients): Count the entire amount of an asset to which the income group has access.
QM: See SR.
MC: See AR.
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| TANF |
Prorate the value of the asset according to the number of owners.
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| GC |
See TANF
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| FS |
Count assets owned jointly by separate households in their entirety to each household.
If the household can demonstrate that it has access to only a portion of the asset, the value of that portion of the asset shall be counted toward the household's asset level. |
| ALL |
A land contract is an agreement for the sale of real property on installments (usually monthly). The contract holder (seller of the property) retains title to the property until the entire purchase price is paid.
Exclude the value of the property for both the contract holder and the purchaser. |
| ALL |
A life insurance policy is a contract between the policy owner and the company that provides the insurance which is also referred to as the insurer. The company agrees to pay money to a designated beneficiary upon the death of the insured which is the person whose life the policy insures.
The policyholder (or owner) is usually the person who pays the premiums and is the person who has the right to change the policy. However, the policyholder and the insured may be different people. A policy is an asset of the policyholder.
The amount of basic death benefit contracted for the time the policy is purchased is referred to as the face amount, face value, amount of insurance, amount of policy, or sum insured. It does not include dividends or additional amounts payable because of accidental death or other special provisions.
The amount of money the policy owner can get by canceling the policy before it matures or the insured dies is referred to as the cash surrender value (CSV) or cash value. A life insurance policy is an asset if it generates a CSV. Generally, term insurance does not have a CSV. A whole or straight life policy generates a CSV. The CSV usually increases over time. A loan against a policy reduces its CSV. A policy may be able to generate a CSV but have a CSV of zero (i.e., a person recently purchased a policy). Such a policy is an asset with zero value.
It is important to remember that the CSV and the face value are not the same.
A life insurance policy may be assigned to pay funeral/burial expenses (see Section 1.19: Life Insurance Funded Funerals in this Chapter).
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| MA |
There is no exclusion. Count the CSV of all life insurance policies owned by the asset group.
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| TANF |
The entire CSV is excluded.
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| GC |
See TANF.
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| FS |
See TANF. |
Life Insurance Funded Funerals 1.19
| ALL |
A prearranged funeral contract may be funded using life insurance if a person purchases a life insurance policy and assigns (i.e., directs) the proceeds to be used for his/her funeral expenses.
In addition to assigning the proceeds, a person may transfer ownership of the insurance policy to a trust, funeral director, or other third party.
A person who purchases a life insurance policy marketed and designed to fund funerals will usually do the following:
- Assign the proceeds to fund his/her prearranged funeral.
- Irrevocably/permanently transfer ownership of the insurance policy to a trust.
Exclude the value of life insurance funded funerals.
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| ALL |
Exclude non-cash assets, either business or non-business, used to secure a loan for business purposes if:
- The borrower is a household member, ineligible alien, or disqualified person whose assets are counted as part of the household's assets (see Chapter 2: Whose Assets are Counted in this Part)
- A security or lien agreement makes the asset inaccessible (i.e., the group cannot sell it or convert its value to cash)
If the above conditions are not met, count the asset's cash/equity value.
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Non-Recurring Lump Sums and Accrued Benefits 1.21
| ALL |
A lump sum is cash received on a non-recurring or irregular basis that cannot reasonably be anticipated.
Some lump sums payments may be exluded in their entirety or in part. Funds received from excludable lum sum payments must not be commingled with countable assets.
The following lump sum payments are excluded in their entirety by law or federal statute:
- payments received under PL 103-383 to US citizens of Japanese ancestry, resident Japanese aliens and Andaluets who were interned or relocated during World War II,
- payments received under the Ratiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990, PL 101-325, as compensation for exposure to radiation from nuclear testing and uranium mining,
- Agent Orange settlement fund payments or payments from any other fund established because of the settlement in the in re: Agent Orange product liability litigation, MDL No. 381 (EDNY), and
- payments received under Section 401 of the Veterans Benefits and Health Care Improvement Act of 2000, PL 106-419.
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| MA |
To the extent that lum sums are countable, they are considered assets beginning the month after payment was received.
The following lump sum payments are excluded entirely:
- payments made by the District government related to judgments or settlement agreements made on behalf of customers of District government agencies including the following:
- Evans v Williams,
- Dixon v Williams,
- Brady v Williams, and
- Salazar v Williams;
- accrued retroactive benefits from the following:
- TANF,
- TANF Diversion payments,
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI),
- Medicare Buy-In and related reimbursements, and
- Social Security (OASDI).
The first $12,000 in accured retroactive benefits is excluded for twelve months from the month of receipt for the following:
- Unemployment Compensation Benefits (UCB),
- Railroad Retirement Benefits, and
- Veteran's Benefits.
The amount of the lump sum exceeding $12,000 is countable as an asset in the month following the month that the payment is received. The amount of any remaining cash is countable effective the first day of the 13th month.
Also, exclude for twelve months payments from any source for the planned repair or replacement of a non-countable asset that was lost, stolen, damaged, or detroyed; any remaining cahs becomes countable effective the first day of the 13th month.
Unless otherwise state the proceeds from the sale of assets are countable in the month following the sale.
| If Mr. Martin inherits a sum of money, the money received is treated as income in the month received. Any money remaining after the first of the next month would be treated as an asset.
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Example 2 |
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Ms. Morris and her eight-year-old son receive MA but no longer receive TANF assistance. Ms. Morris works, and her income equals 185 percent of the FPL. Both are part of an AX group. IMA discovers that Ms. Morris is due a TANF underpayment. The underpayment is not counted as an asset or income when determining the group's MA eligibility. | |
| TANF |
Lump sums and accrued benefits not listed below or otherwise excluded by law are not treated as assets but rather as windfall income (see Section 4.26: Lump Sums and Accrued Benefits and Section 8.4.1: Future Ineligibility Based on Receipt of a Lump Sum or Accrued Benefit in this Part).
Retroactive SSI benefits are not treated as assets or windfall ncome.
Retroactive Social Security (OASDI) benefits are not counted as windfall income and are excluded as assets for six months following the month of payment. Any remaining cash becomes countable as a cash asset on the first day of the seventh month.
Proceeds from the sale of other assets are not countable as windfall income, but are countable as a cash asset on the first day of the month following the month of the sale.
| Mrs. Skuble, a disabled mother, and her two children receive TANF. Mrs. Skuble applied for SSI on February 1, 1998. In January 1999, SSA determines her SSI-eligible and issues her a retroactive benefit that reflects the benefits she was entitled to since the date she applied for SSI. Once Mrs. Skuble is made eligible for SSI, she becomes ineligible for TANF, but her children remain eligible for TANF. The retroactive benefit is not counted as an asset or as income when determining her children's TANF benefit. In addition, no overpayment is charged for the TANF benefits Mrs. Skuble received between February 1998 and January 1999. | |
| GC |
See TANF.
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| FS |
Non-recurring lum sums are countable against the asset limit in the month the lump sum is received.
Lump sums and accrued benefits which are to be treated as assets and not income include the following:
- Lottery winnings;
- Income tax refunds;
- Inheritances;
- Lawsuit settlements;
- Insurance settlements;
- Refunds of security deposits for rent or utilities;
- Retroactive unemployment compensation benefits;
- Retroactive TANF benefits;
- Retroactive SSI benefits;
- Retroactive OASDI (Social Security) benefits;
- Retroactive railroad retirement benefit; and
- Retroactive veteran's benefits.
Retoractive OASDI (Social Security) benefits are exluded assets for 6 months.
While retroactive TANF and SSI benefits are considered assets, the assets of individuals receiving TANF or SSI are not considered when determining countable assets for the household. If all household members receive TANF or SSI, the household is categorically eligible for FS and does not have to meet the asset test. If some members of the household do not receive TANF or SSI, the assets of those members who do are excluded so the receipt of retroactive TANF or SSI will not affect their eligibility (see Section 1.27: SSI and Public Assistance Benefits in this Part).
Annuities and lottery winnings that are paid on an annual basis must be averaged as income over a 12-month period.
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Ms. Williams and her two children receive TANF and FS. Between January and August, she received a TANF benefit of $200. IMA discovers that her TANF benefits were miscalculated for the eight-month period and that she should have received $275 each month. In September, she receives a payment of $600 to offset her underpayment for the eight-month period in addition to her $275 regular TANF benefits.
The group's FS benefits were calculated correctly between January and August based on the income Ms. Williams actually received (that is, based on a TANF benefit of $200). The $600 underpayment is treated as an asset, not as income, in the month received. The group receives TANF and is categorically eligible for FS, therefore the additional assets cannot make her ineligible for FS. The group's FS benefits are not adjusted for the January-August period, and the group is not charged with an overpayment.
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Example 2 |
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Ms. Johnson and her two children received TANF and FS from January through April. She found a job in April and stopped receiving TANF. She continues receiving FS. In June, Ms. Johnson is awarded a $300 TANF underpayment based on a prior Department error. The $300 is considered an asset in June - but the family is also considered to be a TANF recipient in June and, therefore, categorically eligible for FS. Thus, in June, the family is not required to meet the FS asset test. | |
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