STATE OF ALASKA

Department of Health and Social Services

Division of Public Assistance

TRANSMITTAL NUMBER:  MC #20

MANUAL:  Aged, Disabled and Long Term Care Medicaid Eligibility Manual

DATE:  July 1, 2011

Beginning July 1, 2011, new policy increases the personal needs allowance for nursing home residents to $200 per month.

Other changes are either technical in nature or clarifications that are the result of policy questions or suggestions from the field.

Highlights of these policy revisions are described below. If you have any questions please contact the Policy and Program Development Team at 465-3382 or email dpapolicy@alaska.gov.

OVERVIEW OF CHANGES

MS 523-E  Veterans Affairs Payments

1. • Updates the amount of Veterans Affairs payments that are not counted as income in the post-eligibility computation for residents of state Veteran’s Homes or institutional facilities from $90 to $200 per month.  

MS 570-C  Individuals Not Subject to Cost-of-Care

1. • Updates the amount of countable income that an institutionalized recipient in a nursing home can receive and not be subject to cost-of-care from $75 to $200 per month.    

MS 570-D(1)  Income Disregarded in the Cost-of-Care Determination

1. • Updates the amount of Veterans Affairs payments that are excluded from income when making the cost-of-care determination from $90 to $200 per month.  

MS 570-E(1)  Allowable Deductions for Cost-of-Care Determinations

1. • Updates the personal needs allowance that may be deducted from an individual’s gross income when determining cost-of-care for institutionalized individuals in a nursing home or swing bed facility from $75 to $200 per month.
   • Updates the portion of the personal needs allowance that is paid by APA for individual’s whose sole source of income is SSI and are institutionalized in a nursing home or swing bed facility from $45 to $170 per month.
   • Updates the personal needs allowance that may be deducted from an individual’s gross income when determining cost-of-care for veterans in a nursing home or swing bed facility from $90 to $200 per month.

MS 570-G  Retroactive Cost-of-Care Adjustments

1. • Updates the examples from 2005 to 2011.

MS 570-H  Nursing Home Examples

1. • Updates the personal needs allowance that may be deducted from an individual’s gross income when determining cost-of-care for institutionalized individuals in a nursing home from $75 to $200 per month.
   • Updates the Community Spouse Monthly Maintenance Need Standard to the 2011 amount of $2,739.00 in example 2.

MS 570-J  Home and Community-Based Waiver Case Examples

1. • Updates the Community Spouse Monthly Maintenance Need Standard to the 2011 amount of $2,739.00 in example 1.
   • Updates the Special Long Term Care Income Standard to the 2011 amount of $2,022 in example 2.

Addendum 1  Program Standards

1. • Updates the nursing home personal needs allowance from $75 to $200 per month effective July 1, 2011.