Appendix XXIX, Special Deeming Eligibility Test for Spouse to Spouse

Revision 23-1; Effective March 1, 2023

Note: The following information is effective Jan. 1, 2023.

Step Spouse-to-Spouse Procedure Budget Budget Budget
Pretest

Applicant or recipient must first be eligible based on the applicant's or recipient's own income in the pretest. Determine if the applicant or recipient meets the pretest.

Use G-5100, Individual and Couple Noninstitutional Budgets, or G-7000, Prior Coverage, as appropriate. If eligible as an individual in the pretest, use the following steps when deeming from an ineligible spouse to the applicant or recipient.

      
1 Determine the appropriate income limit.   QMB SLMB
2 Determine the nonexempt and non-excludable gross earned and unearned income of the ineligible spouse; Reference E-1700, Things That Are Not Income, E-2440, Certain Health-Related Payments, E-3170, Census Bureau Wages, E-4300, VA Benefits, E-4318, VA Contracts, E-7200, When Deeming Procedures Are Not Used, and E-7300, When Deeming Procedures Begin. gross earned unearned gross earned unearned gross earned unearned
3 Determine the number of children.
If no ineligible children and countable income is less than the program-specific living allowance allocation, skip to 4a.
Program-Specific Living Allowance Allocation: Community MEPD $457; CA $457; QMB $393; SLMB $472; QI-1 $531; QDWI $787;
 
                  
Determine the non-exempt income of the ineligible children. See MEPD references in Step 2.                  
Deduct from the ineligible spouse's countable income the program-specific living allowance for each ineligible child reduced by the ineligible child's gross amount of income. If the child's own income exceeds the allowance, there is no deduction and the child and their income is disregarded in the budget. The living allowance allocations are first deducted from the ineligible spouse's unearned income. If the ineligible spouse does not have enough unearned income to cover the allocation, the balance of the allocation is deducted from the ineligible spouse's earned income. Reference Appendix XXXI, Budget Reference Chart.                  
4a If remaining income (unearned or earned) of the ineligible spouse is no greater than the program-specific living allowance, stop. No income is deemed.                  
4b If remaining income (both earned and unearned) of the ineligible spouse exceeds the program-specific living allowance allocation, the applicant or recipient and the ineligible spouse are treated as an eligible couple in the deeming process. Continue with Step 5.
5 Determine applicant's or recipient's monthly gross earned income and monthly unearned income, including the applicant's or recipient's support and maintenance. Because support and maintenance is exempt for the ineligible spouse, use the appropriate companion amount in Appendix XXXI. Reference E-8000, Support and Maintenance. gross earned unearned gross earned unearned gross earned unearned
Combine the remainder of the ineligible spouse's unearned income with the applicant's or recipient's unearned income and the ineligible spouse's earned income with the applicant's or recipient's earned income.                                    
6 From the combined unearned income, deduct $20. If there is less than $20 unearned income, the remaining portion of the $20 exclusion is applied to earned income; Note: The $20 disregard is not applicable for Special Income Limit cases Spouse-to-Spouse Deeming (CAS, institutional and Waiver programs). Reference G-4110, Twenty-Dollar General Exclusion.                                    
7 From the combined earned income, deduct up to $65 plus half of the remaining earned income. Note: not applicable for Special Income Limit cases for Spouse-to-Spouse Deeming (CAS, Institutional and Waiver programs). Reference G-4120, Earned Income Exclusion.                                    
Deduct applicant's or recipient's COLA(s) for Pickle, DAC or Widow or Widowers. G-4300, Special RSDI Income Exclusions.                                    
Deduct applicant's or recipient's Social Security COLA(s) for January and February of each year if the current countable budgeted income exceeds the appropriate QMB, SLMB, QI-1 Income Limit. See Q-1400, MSPs and Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs).                                    
Remainder is countable income.                  
8 Compare to the appropriate income limit for an eligible couple.                  
  If an unmet need of 1 cent or more exists, the individual is eligible.                  
  For the Special Income Limit or the QMB Limit, if the income is no greater than these limits, the individual is eligible.                  

Reference Appendix XXXI for income, resource and budget amounts. If eligible on individual pretest for QMB but not eligible for QMB in the special deeming eligibility test, re-budget appropriate programs for SLMB or QI-1. The minimum income requirement for SLMB or QI-1 does not apply when the applicant is ineligible due to deeming. For parent-to-child deeming, see G-2312, Parent-to-Child Noninstitutional Deeming.