213.05 UP: Eligibility by Work and Education History SR 11-30, 07/11 (FAM-A)

To qualify for *medical assistance for unemployed parents, a principal wage earner (PWE) must provide either a work or education history ending within one calendar year prior to the application for UP medical assistance or an unemployment compensation history.

Work history: To be considered unemployed via work history, a PWE must have worked at least 6 calendar quarters in a period of 13 consecutive calendar quarters ending within 1 year prior to application for assistance and earned at least $50 per quarter. In other words, to be eligible for UP medical assistance, at least one calendar quarter used to establish unemployment of the PWE must have occurred within the previous 12 months. Calendar quarters are periods of 3 consecutive months dated as follows:

• January 1 through March 31;

• April 1 through June 30;

• July 1 through September 30; and

• October 1 through December 31.

Credit a PWE (not one who was self-employed) with a calendar quarter of work when they:

• earned at least $50 for the quarter; or

• had at least $50 attributed to them for social security purposes; or

• participated in NHEP work program activities.

Credit a self-employed PWE with up to 4 calendar quarters of work a year according to the following formula:

1.  Determine the PWE’s annual countable income for a calendar year.

2.  Divide by $50.

3.  Whole numbers in the answer represent the number of calendar quarters that can be credited for the calendar year, up to a maximum of 4 credits. If the self-employed PWE can be credited with less than 4 quarters in a calendar year, credit the quarters within the calendar year in the way that is most advantageous to the PWE.

Educational history: Substitute educational activities for no more than 4 calendar quarters of work when the activities consist of one of the following:

• full-time elementary or secondary school attendance;

• full-time participation in a vocational or technical training program that is preparatory to employment; or

• participation in a post-secondary education or vocational skills training activity established under the Job Training and Partnership Act.