213.01 Unemployment of the Principal Wage Earner SR 11-30, 07/11 (FAM-A)

A family is eligible for UP medical assistance when the principal wage earner (PWE) in a two-parent household becomes unemployed through no fault of their own.

At the initial application for assistance, the District Office must first determine the principal wage earner (PWE) in the two-parent household and then must determine if the PWE meets the definition of unemployed.

Use the following criteria to determine the PWE:

• the PWE is the parent who earned the highest income in the 24-month period preceding the month of application for assistance;

• the earnings of each parent for the preceding 24 months must be considered, regardless of when their relationship began;

• if parents had identical income for the 24-month period, the household designates the PWE; and

• once one of the parents has been designated as the PWE, that parent remains the PWE for the purposes of determining whether the PWE meets the definition of unemployed.

Exception: If the family files a new application after a break in eligibility, PWE status must be redetermined.

See Section 213.03, UP: Definition of Unemployed; and Section 213.19, Verification of UP Eligibility, for policy and procedures used to determine the PWE’s status as unemployed.