Ariz. Admin. Code § R9-22-1420 - Income Eligibility Criteria

A. Evaluation of income. In determining eligibility, the Administration or its designee shall evaluate the following types of income received by a person identified in subsection (B):

1. Earned income, including in-kind income, before any deductions. For purposes of this Section, in-kind income means room, board, or provision for other needs in exchange for work performed. The person identified in subsection (B) shall ensure that the provider of the in-kind income establishes and verifies the monetary value of the item provided. The provider may be, but is not limited to:

a. A landlord who provides all or a portion of rent or utilities in exchange for services;

b. A store owner who gives goods such as groceries, clothes, or furniture in exchange for services; or

c. An individual who trades goods such as a car, tools, trailer, building material, or gasoline in exchange for services;

2. Self-employment income under R9-22-1424, including gross business receipts minus business expenses; and

3. Unearned income, including deemed income under R9-22-317 from the sponsor of a non-citizen applicant.

B. MAGI income group. The Administration or its designee shall include the following persons in the MAGI income group:

1. Applicant;

2. Applicant's parent if the applicant is an unmarried dependent child who is less than 18 years old;

3. Applicant's spouse;

4. A sponsor under 8 CFR 213a.1 of a person meeting the qualified alien requirements under A.R.S. § 36-2903.03 and the sponsor's spouse; and

5. A non-parent caretaker relative and spouse, as allowed under R9-22-1427, and their unmarried minor children if applying as a family, including a dependent child living with a caretaker relative.

1. When the applicant is a taxpayer include:

a. The applicant,

b. Everyone the applicant expects to claim as a tax dependent for the current year, and

c. The applicant's spouse, when living with the applicant.

2. Except as provided in subsection (B)(3), when the applicant expects to be claimed as a tax dependent for the current year include:

a. The taxpayer claiming the applicant,

b. Everyone else the taxpayer expects to claim as a tax dependent,

c. The taxpayer's spouse when living with the taxpayer, and

d. The applicant's spouse, when living with the applicant.

3. When any of the following apply, determine the persons whose income is included as described in subsection (4)(a) or (4)(b) based on the applicant's age:

a. The applicant expects to be claimed as a tax dependent by someone other than a spouse or natural, adopted or step-parent;

b. The applicant is under age 19, expects to be claimed as a tax dependent by a natural, adopted or step-parent, lives with more than one such parent and the parents do not expect to file a joint tax return; or

c. The applicant is under age 19 and expects to be claimed as a tax dependent by a non-custodial parent.

4. When the applicant is not a taxpayer, does not expect to be claimed as a tax dependent and is:

a. Under age 19. Include the income of the applicant and when living with the applicant, the applicant's:

i. Spouse;

ii. Natural, adopted and step-children;

iii. Natural, adopted and step-parents;

iv. Natural, adopted and step-siblings; and

b. Age 19 or older. Include the income of the applicant and when living with the applicant, the applicant's:

i. Spouse;

ii. Natural, adopted and step-children under age 19.

5. When the applicant is a pregnant woman, the Administration or its designee shall also include the number of expected babies only for the pregnant woman's income group.

6. When the taxpayer cannot reasonably establish that a person is the taxpayer's tax dependent, inclusion of the person in the taxpayer's MAGI income group is determined as provided in subsection (B)(4).

C. Income exclusions. The Department shall not count the following income:

1. Agent Orange settlement fund payments;

2. AmeriCorps Network Program benefits;

3. Burial benefits dispersed solely for burial expenses;

4. Cash contributions from agencies or organizations other than the Department or the Administration if the contributions are not intended to cover the following items:

a. Food;

b. Rent or mortgage payments for shelter;

c. Utilities;

d. Household supplies such as bedding, towels, laundry, cleaning, and paper supplies;

e. Public transportation fares for personal use;

f. Basic clothing or diapers; or

g. Personal care and hygiene items, such as soap, toothpaste, shaving cream, and deodorant;

5. Disaster assistance provided under the Federal Disaster Relief Act, disaster assistance organizations, or comparable assistance provided by state or local governments;

6. Educational grants or scholarships funded by the United States Department of Education or from a Veterans Education assistance program or the Bureau of Indian Affairs student assistance program;

7. Energy assistance that is provided:

a. Either in cash or in-kind by a government agency or municipal utility, or

b. In-kind by a private nonprofit organization;

8. Earnings from high school on-the-job training programs;

9. Earned income of a dependent child who is a student enrolled and attending school at least half-time as defined by the institution;

10. Fair Labor Standard Act supplemental payment;

11. Food stamp benefits;

12. Foster care maintenance payments intended for a child who is not included in the family or Medical Expense Deduction (MED) unit;

13. Funds set aside in an Individual Development Account under A.A.C. R6-12-404 ;

14. Governmental rent and housing subsidies;

15. Income tax refunds, including any earned income tax credit;

16. Loans from a private person or a commercial or educational institution if there is a written agreement for repayment of the loan;

17. Nonrecurring cash gifts that do not exceed $30 per person in any calendar quarter;

18. Payments made from a fund established by the Susan Walker v. Bayer Corporation class action lawsuit or the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1998;

19. Radiation exposure compensation payments;

20. Reimbursement for work-related expenses that do not exceed the actual expense amount;

21. Reimbursement for Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Program training-related expenses;

22. Reparation and restitution payments under Section 1902(r) of the Act;

23. SSI designated account and interest earned on the account;

24. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or SSI cash assistance payment;

25. Vendor payment made by an organization or person who is not a member of the family or MED unit, to a third party to cover family expenses;

26. Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA) income that does not exceed the state or federal minimum wage;

27. Vocational rehabilitation program payments made as reimbursement for training-related expenses, subsistence and maintenance allowances, and incentive payments that are not intended as wages;

28. Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits; or

29. Any other income specifically excluded under 20 CFR 416 Appendix to Subpart K, as of June 6, 1997, which is incorporated by reference and on file with the Administration, and available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Mail Stop: IDCC, 732 N. Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20401. This incorporation by reference contains no future editions or amendments.

D. Special income provision for child support. The Administration or Administration's designee shall consider child support to be income of the child for whom the support is intended and count the child support income received after deducting $50 per child receiving child support income from the monthly amount.

E. Determining income for a month.

1. Calculating monthly income. The Administration or Administration's designee shall calculate monthly income under R9-22-1421 through R9-22-1426 ,

2. The Administration or Administration's designee shall deduct the applicable disregards and deductions to which a person is entitled for the month.

F. Earned income disregards.

1. General. The Department shall apply the earned income disregards to each employed person's gross earnings.

2. Disregards. The Department shall apply the following method to calculate the amount of the countable earned income under subsection (A):

a. Subtract a $90 cost of employment (COE) allowance from the gross amount of earned income for each person whose earned income is counted;

b. Subtract an amount billed for the care of each dependent child or incapacitated adult member who is the responsibility of the person whose income is counted, if the care is for the purpose of allowing the person to work. If more than one person in the household is responsible for and billed for the care of a dependent child the disregard may be split between the wage earners to the benefit of the family, but shall not exceed the maximum disregards as follows:

i. A maximum of $200 for each child under age two and $175 for each other dependent for a wage-earner employed full-time (86 or more hours per month); and

ii. A maximum of $100 for each child under age two, and $88 for each other dependent for a wage earner employed part-time (less than 86 hours a month).

3. Loss of disregards. The Department shall not apply the earned income disregards if the member fails to report to the Department a change in earned income within 10 days from the date the change becomes known to the member. The change report to the Department shall be postmarked no later than the 10th day from the date the change becomes known.

A person whose income is counted. The Administration or its designee shall count the MAGI-based income of all members of an applicant's MAGI income group with the following exceptions:

1. The income of an individual who is included in the MAGI income group of his or her natural, adoptive or step parent and is not expected to be required to file a tax return for the year in which eligibility for Medicaid is being determined, is not counted whether or not the individual files a tax return.

2. The income of a tax dependent other than the taxpayer's spouse or biological, adopted or stepchild who is not expected to be required to file a tax return for the year in which eligibility for Medicaid is being determined is not counted when the tax dependent is included in the taxpayer's MAGI income group, whether or not the tax dependent files a tax return.

Notes

Ariz. Admin. Code § R9-22-1420

New Section adopted by final rulemaking at 5 A.A.R. 294, effective January 8, 1999 (Supp. 99-1). Section repealed; new Section made by exempt rulemaking at 7 A.A.R. 4593, effective October 1, 2001 (Supp. 01-3). Section repealed; new Section made by final rulemaking at 11 A.A.R. 4942, effective December 31, 2005 (Supp. 05-4). Amended by final rulemaking at 20 A.A.R. 193, effective 1/7/2014.