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State of Wisconsin |
HISTORY |
The policy on this page is from a previous version of the handbook.
"Disregard” and "exempt" in this section mean "do not count.” When calculating the total amount of income a person has received, disregard the following kinds of income:
Disregard adoption assistance payments.
Disregard payments received from the Agent Orange Settlement Fund or any other fund established in settling In Re "Agent Orange" Product Liability Litigation, M.D.L. No. 381 (E.D.N.Y.).
Apply this disregard retroactively to January 1, 1989, and continue to disregard these payments for as long as they are identified separately.
Disregard combat zone pay that goes to the household that is in excess of the military person's pre-deployment pay. The exclusion lasts while the military person is deployed to the combat area.
If the amount of military pay from the deployed absent family member is equal to or less than the amount the household was receiving prior to deployment, count all of the income to the household. Any portion of the military pay that exceeds the amount the household was receiving prior to deployment to a designated combat zone should be excluded when determining the household’s income.
| Example 1: |
John's wife Bonnie and their daughter have an open Medicaid case. John is in the military stationed overseas, and his monthly income is $1,000. John sends his wife $1,000 every month. When John is deployed to a combat zone his pay is increased to $1,300 a month, which is deposited into a joint account. Because the $300 is combat zone pay, it is exempt income and not counted in the determination. The pre-combat pay of $1,000 is budgeted as unearned income for Medicaid. |
Disregard any payments received from a state-established fund to aid victims of a crime.
Disregard major disaster and emergency assistance payments made by federal, state, county, tribal, or local government agencies, or disaster assistance organizations.
Disregard any penalty payment paid as a result of the Dottie Moore lawsuit.
These court-ordered $50-$200 penalty payments can be imposed when the IM agency or CSA does not correctly process child support refunds.
Disregard foster care payments. Foster care payments are considered to be the income of the child or adult who is receiving foster care and these payments are exempt income for the foster care recipient. However, in some situations the foster care recipient uses these payments to pay the foster parent for his or her room and board expenses. The room and board payments that are received by the foster parent are not disregarded and should be counted as non-exempt earned income (see Section 15.5.15 Earned Income Tax Credit) for the foster parent's Medicaid eligibility determination.
Disregard $20 from the EBD fiscal test group's net income.
Disregard IDA payments that are made in the form of matching funds to buy a home, start a business, or to complete post-secondary education.
Disregard income that is infrequent, irregular, and has no appreciable effect on ongoing need.
Infrequent income is defined as income that an individual receives only once during a calendar quarter from a single source and that the individual did not receive in the month immediately preceding that month or in the month immediately subsequent to that month, regardless of whether or not those payments occur in different calendar quarters.
Income is considered to be received irregularly if an individual cannot reasonably expect to receive it.
Exclude the following income that is received either infrequently or irregularly:
Disregard Kinship Care payments.
Disregard life insurance policy dividends.
Disregard benefits received from the following:
Disregard the following payments to Native Americans:
Disregard payments made under PL 103-286 to victims of Nazi persecution.
Disregard payments from any program under the Radiation Exposure Act (PL 101-426) paid to persons to compensate injury or death due to exposure to radiation from nuclear testing ($50,000) and uranium mining ($100,000). The federal Department of Justice reviews the claims and makes the payments. If the affected person is dead, payments are made to his or her surviving spouse, children, parents, or grandparents.
Apply this disregard retroactively to October 15, 1990, and continue to disregard these payments for as long as they are identified separately.
Disregard cash payments from the RCA program. RCA is administered by W-2 agencies and is made available for refugees who do not qualify for W-2.
Disregard federally funded "Reception and Placement" payments made to refugees during the first 30 days after their arrival in the U.S. Reception and Placement payments are made by voluntary resettlement agencies and may be a direct payment to the refugee individual or family or to a vendor.
A reimbursement is a payment that a person receives for out-of-pocket expenses. Disregard reimbursements for expenses an AG member has incurred or paid. Do not disregard reimbursements for normal household living expenses, such as rent, clothing, or food eaten at home (see Section 15.4.21 Reimbursement of Living Expenses).
The following are some examples of reimbursements you should disregard:
The reimbursement payment should not be more than the person’s actual out-of-pocket expenses. If it is more, count the excess amount as unearned income.
Under Wis. Stat. § 32.19, relocation payments are available to displaced persons. The following are examples of costs that the relocation payments are intended to cover: moving expenses, replacement housing, and property transfer expenses. Disregard the amounts paid by any governmental agency or organization listed in Wis. Stat. § 32.02. Disregard Title II, Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act payments. Its purpose is to treat people displaced by federal and federally aided programs fairly so that they do not suffer disproportionate injuries as a result of programs designed for the public's benefit.
Disregard Experimental Housing Allowance Program payments. The program's purpose is to study housing supply. Test areas, which include Brown County, were selected throughout the U.S., and contracts were entered into prior to January 1, 1975. A sample of families was selected to receive monthly housing allowance payments.
For Medicaid applicants or members, disregard housing assistance payments received under the following acts:
A repayment is money the member has received from an IM program and must give back because of a program error or violation. Since he or she is not entitled to the money, he or she must repay it. Therefore, it should not be counted as income to the member.
Disregard the following repayments:
| Example 2: | Richard receives $50 a month from the VA and $250 from Social Security. The income from the two sources is added together in one lump sum of $300. If the VA overpays Richard by $200, he can pay back to the VA only the $50 a month he receives from the VA. If he repays more, for instance, $75 a month, disregard only $50. |
Disregard income from all of the following:
Disregard payments made under PL 104-204 to any child of a Vietnam veteran for any disability resulting from the child's spina bifida.
Disregard payments received from the class action settlement of Susan Walker vs. Bayer Corporation. These payments are to hemophiliacs who contracted the HIV virus from contaminated blood products.
In Medicaid cases, disregard the value of any commercial transportation ticket that the member, the member's spouse, or the member's parents (if the member is a minor) receives as a gift if it is:
Disregard the following VA allowances for eligibility and, if applicable, post-eligibility*:
| *Note: | Residents of the State Veterans Homes at King, Chippewa Falls, or Union Grove have different rules for post-eligibility calculation of income for patient liability and cost share (see Section 15.3.26.1 Residents of a State Veterans Home). |
| Example 3: |
Jack is a single veteran living in his home. He is disabled (as determined by the VA) and receives VA pension benefits in the amount of $1,450 per month. Because he requires assistance with his daily living tasks, his VA pension benefits include an aid and attendance allowance of $589 per month. Aid and attendance is disregarded income. $1,450 VA pension - 589 aid and attendance allowance (disregarded income) $ 861 budgetable income |
| Example 4: |
Donald is a married veteran living with his wife and two children. He is disabled (as determined by the VA) and receives VA compensation benefits in the amount of $2,600 per month. He does not receive aid and attendance, housebound, or unusual medical expense allowances. The full $2,600 is budgetable income to the household. |
Eligibility: for any veteran who resides at a State Veterans Home at King, Chippewa Falls, or Union Grove, in the eligibility determination, exempt the amounts identified by the VA as unreimbursed (sometimes called "unusual") medical expenses, aid and attendance, and housebound allowances.
Post-eligibility: exempt $90 for those who meet all of the following conditions:
| Example 5: | John is a veteran residing at the State Veterans Home at King. His total monthly income consists of a $90 VA pension and a $55 annuity payment. The $90 VA pension is totally disregarded in eligibility and post-eligibility determinations. The personal needs allowance for institutionalized members is deducted from the $55 annuity payment. John’s remaining budgetable income in the Medicaid post-eligibility determination is $10, and that $10 will be applied to his patient liability. |
| Example 6: |
Scott is a veteran residing at the State Veterans Home at King. His total monthly income consists of a $590 VA pension ($200 of which is for unusual medical expenses) and a $50 annuity payment. The portion of the VA pension for unusual medical expenses is totally disregarded in the Medicaid eligibility test. The $50 annuity payment and remaining $390 of the VA pension is non-exempt income. For the post-eligibility test, only $90 of the VA pension is disregarded. The patient liability calculation includes the personal needs allowance, so Scott will have to contribute $505 to his patient liability. Eligibility Calculation $590 VA Pension + 50 Annuity $640 -200 (exempt income) $440 countable income
Liability Calculation $590 VA Pension + 50 Annuity $640 - 90 (exempt income) - 45 (personal needs) $505 patient liability |
Disregard restitution payments under PL 100-383 to individual Japanese-Americans (or their survivors) and Aleuts who were interned or relocated during World War II. There is no child support and maintenance disregard for Medicaid.
Disregard W-2 stipends and payments, including Case Management Follow-up Plus (CMF+) payments, made directly to a member as part of his or her participation in W-2. Earnings obtained through W-2’s subsidized employment programs, such as Trial Jobs or Transform Milwaukee Jobs, are countable earned income.
Disregard subsidized guardianship payments.
Do not count Federal Recovery Rebates (sometimes referred to as Coronavirus stimulus payments or economic impact payments) issued by the IRS in response to the federal COVID-19 public health emergency.
Do not count Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) payments.
| Note: | These were the $600 checks issued weekly from late April through July 2020, and were in addition to regular unemployment insurance benefits. |
Disregard retroactive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) payments.
Disregard retroactive Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) payments.
Federal income tax refunds (including refundable tax credits) and advance payments of any tax credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, are totally disregarded as income.
This page last updated in Release Number: 21-02
Release Date: 08/30/2021
Effective Date: 08/30/2021
The information concerning the Medicaid program provided in this handbook release is published in accordance with: Titles XI and XIX of the Social Security Act; Parts 430 through 481 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations; Chapters 46 and 49 of the Wisconsin Statutes; and Chapters HA 3, DHS 2, 10 and 101 through 109 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code.
Notice: The content within this manual is the sole responsibility of the State of Wisconsin's Department of Health Services (DHS). This site will link to sites outside of DHS where appropriate. DHS is in no way responsible for the content of sites outside of DHS.
Publication Number: P-10030