Disregarded Income 510-05-85-30

(Revised 7/1/2025 ML #3935)

(N.D.A.C. Section 75-02-02.1-38.2)

This section applies to an individual residing in his or her own home or in a specialized facility, to the Medicare Savings Programs, and to the Workers with Disabilities and Children with Disabilities coverages. It does not apply to an individual receiving psychiatric or nursing care services in a nursing facility, the state hospital, the Anne Carlsen facility, the Prairie at St. John's center, the Stadter Psychiatric Center, a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF), an intermediate care facility for the intellectually disabled (ICF-ID), or receiving swing-bed care in a hospital (refer to the Post Eligibility Treatment of income, Section 05-85-25).

The following types of income must be disregarded in determining Medicaid eligibility:

Money payments made by the Department, another state, or tribal entities in connection with the State LTC Subsidy program, foster care, subsidized guardianship, or the subsidized adoption program (does not include Casey Family, or other private foster care payments);
Court Ordered Child Support payments and Social Security Survivor income for a child under age eighteen years and enrolled in a Medicaid waiver under section 1915c of the Social Security Act.
County general assistance that may be issued on an intermittent basis to cover emergency type situations;
Income received as a housing allowance by programs sponsored by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and rent supplements or utility payments provided through the Housing Assistance Program;
Income of an individual living in the parental home if the individual is not included in the Medicaid unit.
Educational loans, scholarships, grants, awards, Workforce Safety & Insurance vocational rehabilitation payments, and work study received by a student. See 510-05-85-15 (Unearned income) for treatment of student income received from the Veteran's Administration; or any fellowship or gift (or portion of a gift) used to pay the cost of tuition and fees at any educational institution;
In-kind income except in-kind income received in lieu of wages;
Per capita judgment funds paid to members of the Blackfeet Tribe and the Gross Ventre Tribe under Pub. L. 92-254, to any tribe to pay a judgment of the Indian claims commission or the court of claims under Pub. L. 93-134, or to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy's Reservation, the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, or the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana under Pub. L. 97-403;
Compensation received by volunteers participating in the ACTION program as stipulated in the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, including the National Senior Volunteer Corps, including Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), Foster Grandparents, and Senior Companion Program; National Volunteer Programs to Assist Small Businesses and Promote Volunteer Services by Persons with Business Experience; Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) (now AmeriCorps*VISTA, not to be confused with AmeriCorps, a separate program), VISTA Literary Corps;
Benefits received through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program;
Training funds received from Vocational Rehabilitation;
Training allowances of up to thirty dollars per week provided through a tribal native employment works program, or the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training program;
Income tax refunds and earned income credits;
Needs-based payments, support services, and relocation expenses provided through programs established under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and through the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program;
Income derived from submarginal lands, conveyed to Indian tribes and held in trust by the United States, as required by Pub. L. 94-114;
Income earned by an eligible child (not a caretaker, spouse, or pregnant woman) who is a full-time student, or a part-time student who is not employed one hundred hours or more per month. The earnings of an eligible child are counted if the child is a part time student who is employed full time;
Payments from the family subsidy program;
Fifty dollars per month of current child support, received on behalf of children in the Medicaid unit, from each budget unit that is budgeted with a separate income level;
Payments made to recipients under title II of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970;
Tax-exempt portions of payments made as a result of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act;
Payments to certain United States citizens of Japanese ancestry, resident Japanese aliens, and eligible Aleuts made under the Wartime Relocation of Civilians Reparations Act;
Agent Orange payments;
A loan from any source that is subject to a written agreement requiring repayment by the recipient (which includes a reverse mortgage payment);
The Medicare part B premium refunded by the Social Security Administration;
Crime Victims Reparation payments;
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefit and support services payments made by the Department or another state;
Lump sum SSI benefits in the month in which the benefit is received (subject to the asset limits in the months thereafter);
German reparation payments made to survivors of the holocaust, and reparation payments made under sections 500 through 506 of the Austrian General Social Insurance Act;
Assistance received under the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1974 or some other federal statute, because of a presidentially declared major disaster (including disaster assistance unemployment compensation), and interest earned on that assistance. Comparable assistance received from a state or local government, or from a disaster assistance organization is also excluded;
Refugee cash assistance or grant payments;
Payments from the Child and Adult Food Program for meals and snacks to licensed families who provide day care in their home;
Extra checks received by individuals who are paid weekly or bi-weekly. The check may be from earned (but not self-employment) or unearned income. The last check received in the month is always considered the extra check. For individuals paid weekly, it is the fifth check and for individuals paid bi-weekly, it is the third check. Bonus checks, or checks for any other reason, are not considered extra checks;
All income, allowances, and bonuses received as a result of participation in the Job Corps Program;
Payments received for the repair or replacement of lost, damaged or stolen assets;
Homestead tax credits;
Training stipends provided to victims of domestic violence by private, charitable organizations, such as the Seeds of Hope Gift Shop, or the Abused Adult Resource Center, for attending their educational programs;
Allowances paid to children of Vietnam veterans who are born with Spina Bifida, or to children of women Vietnam veterans who are born with certain covered birth defects;
Netherlands Reparation payments based on Nazi, but not Japanese, persecution during World War II, Public Law 103-286;
Radiation Exposure Compensation, Public Law 101-426;
Interest or dividend income from liquid assets;
Additional pay received by military personnel as a result of deployment to a combat zone;
Occasional small gifts;
Money received by Indians from the lease or sale of natural resources, and rent or lease income, resulting from the exercise of federally-protected rights on excluded Indian property, is considered an asset conversion and is therefore not considered as income (even if the money is taken out of the IIM account in the same month it was deposited into the account). This includes distributions of per capita judgment funds or property earnings held in trust for a tribe. This does not include local Tribal funds that a Tribe distributes to individuals on a per capita basis, but which have not been held in trust by the Secretary of Interior (e.g., tribally managed gaming revenues - which is countable income);
Medicare Part D premiums, co-payments, and deductibles refunded by prescription drug plans;
For periods after October 1, 2008, all wages paid by the Census Bureau for temporary employment related to census activities will be disregarded as income;
The first $2,000 received by an individual age 19 and over as compensation for participation in a clinical trial for rare diseases or conditions meeting the requirements of Section 1612(b)(26) of the Act. This disregard is only allowed if approved by the Medicaid Eligibility Unit.
Monthly food coupons distributed to individuals age 55 and over from the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Lake Traverse Reservation Food Distribution program.
Payments distributed by the Emergency Rent Assistance Program (ERAP).
Reimbursements from an employer, training agency, or other organization for past or future training, or volunteer related expenses are disregarded from income. Reimbursements must be specified for an identified expense, other than normal living expenses, and used for the purpose intended.

Examples of disregarded reimbursements include:
1. Reimbursements for job or training-related expenses such as travel, per diem, uniforms, and transportation to and from the job or training site;
2. Reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses of volunteers incurred in the course of their work.
Disbursements from The People’s Fund and General Disbursements to members of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara (MHA) Nation also known as Three Affiliated Tribes (TAT) come from natural resources (oil and gas royalties), therefore are disregarded income.