SR 24-21 Dated 07/24

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES - Bureau of family assistance (bfa)

INTER-DEPARTMENT COMMUNICATION

SUMMARY

This Supervisory Release (SR) releases guidance regarding changes to the treatment of Alimony for MAGI-based categories of medical assistance only.

BACKGROUND

The Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) of 2018 and Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) made changes to the taxability of Alimony/Spousal Support payments (“Alimony”), which impact MAGI-based methodologies.  Prior to enactment of the TCJA, Alimony was considered taxable income to the recipient. Section 11051 of the TCJA modified the Alimony rules.

POLICY

When computing income for the MAGI-based categories of medical assistance the following rules apply:

Alimony payments received by an individual:

·     Excluded unearned income to the individual when the separation or divorce agreements were finalized or modified on or after January 1, 2019.

·     Countable unearned income to the individual when the separation or divorce agreements were finalized or modified before January 1, 2019.

Alimony payments paid by an individual:

·       Are no longer an allowable deduction when the separation or divorce agreements were finalized or modified on or after January 1, 2019.

·       Continue to be an allowable deduction when the agreement was finalized or modified before January 1, 2019.

Note: Treatment of Alimony paid or received remains the same for all other programs of assistance, regardless of the date of the order.

Self-attestation of the finalization or modification date of the court-ordered Alimony is acceptable verification.

Note: There have been no changes to the process of verifying the amount and frequency of Alimony for MAGI. If the verification was not provided during the application, Self-attestation must be used to confirm the case. A post-Magi Verification will automatically be sent for proof as it does now.  Allow the amount stipulated in the court order whether or not the individual makes the payment. 

Exception: Actual payments made for Alimony are allowed as an income deduction for the MAGI-related medical assistance groups only when the order was finalized or modified on or prior to January 1, 2019.

NEW HEIGHTS & NH EASY SYSTEMS PROCEDURES

The following changes have been made:

1.    Changed type of payment “Spousal Sup Ret by State” to “Alimony” on the “Unearned Income” screen.

2.    Changed type of payment “Spousal Support (Direct)" to “Spousal Allocation" on the “Unearned Income” screen.

·         “Spousal allocation” is only entered or removed by a Long-Term Care (LTC) worker.

3.     Added a check box to the bottom of the “Unearned Income” screen that is titled “Orders finalized or modified on or after January 1, 2019”.

·         When the checkbox is checked off, the Alimony entered will not be counted for MAGI.

·         When the checkbox is not checked off, the Alimony will be counted for MAGI.

4.    Changed type of payment “Spousal Support” to “Alimony” on the “Support Payments” screen.

5.    Added check box to the bottom of the “Support Payments” screen that is titled “orders finalized or modified on or after January 1, 2019.”

·         When the checkbox is checked off, the Alimony payment entered will not be an allowable deduction for MAGI.

·         When the checkbox is not checked off, the Alimony paid will be a counted allowable deduction for MAGI.

6.    If “Alimony” is listed as unearned income, and left unverified, a post-verification checklist will generate and include a new example of verifications to provide “Court order including amount, frequency and order or modified date” for MAGI-based medical assistance.

7.    Updated the NH EASY application:

If the applicant selects Alimony in “other income” type, there will be a follow up question “was this order finalized or modified on or after January 1, 2019” with a “yes” or “no” option.

If the applicant selects Alimony in “what kind of support is being paid” and selects “yes” to support payments court ordered, there will be a follow up question “was this order finalized or modified on or after January 1, 2019” with a “yes” or “no” option.

These cases will run through Real Time.

Information in NH EASY will be linked to New HEIGHTS; If “yes” is checked off in NH EASY it will automatically check the box on the bottom of the “Unearned Income” screen to exclude the Alimony in New HEIGHTS, as well as linked to the allowable deductions screen check box to exclude the Alimony as a deduction.

POLICY MANUAL REVISIONS

Revised Medical Assistance Manual Topics

Section 159.01     Termination of Medical Assistance (MAM)

PART 163              EXTENDED MEDICAL ASSISTANCE DUE TO INCREASED ALIMONY (MAM)

PART 511              CHILD SUPPORT (MAM)

PART 511              ALIMONY (MAM)

PART 605              INCOME DEDUCTIONS (MAM)

Glossary A-words (MAM)

Glossary S-words (MAM)

The FAM and FSM pages have been updated to change 'Spousal Support' to 'Alimony.'

Revised Food Stamp Manual Topics

PART 511            ALIMONY (FSM)

PART 511            CHILD SUPPORT (FSM)

PART 511            SPOUSAL SUPPORT (FSM)

Glossary A-words (FSM)

Glossary S-words (FSM)

Revised Family Assistance Manual Topics

PART 169              EXTENDED MEDICAL ASSISTANCE DUE TO INCREASED CHILD SUPPORT OR ALIMONY (FAM)

Section 169.01      Determining the Four-Month Coverage Period (FAM)

Section 169.03      Changes During the Four-Month Coverage Period (FAM)

Section 169.05      Redetermination of Eligibility During the Four-Month Coverage Period (FAM)

Section 311.03      Who Is Liable to Support a Spouse on FANF Assistance (FAM)

Section 311.13      Cooperation (FAM)

PART 411              CROWDFUNDING (FAM)

Section 603.09      Other Allowable Deductions (FAM)

Section 603.09      Court Ordered Child Support or Court Ordered Alimony (FAM)

Section 611.03      Deeming Principles (FAM)

Glossary A-words (FAM)

Glossary S-words (FAM)

DESCRIPTION OF REVISIONS MADE TO FORMS

The following changes have been made to BFA Forms:

BFA Form 800MA, Application for Health Coverage & Help Paying Costs:

·        Removed “Date Alimony ordered”, added “was this order finalized or modified on or after January 1, 2019” and a “yes” or “no” check box (page 3, 5 and 7).

·        Under “Alimony paid”, added “was this order finalized or modified on or after January 1, 2019” and a “yes” or “no” check box (page 3, 5 and 7).

·        Updated Claremont DO address on the 800MA (insert).

BFA Form 800(Ins), Additional Requested Information to Determine Eligibility for Other Medical Assistance or Services:

·        Section A: Removed “was this person in foster care at age 18 or older? Y N” and added “If this person receives Alimony/Spousal Support, was this order finalized or modified on or after January 1, 2019” with a “yes” or “no” check box.

·        Section D: Added a line under “Tax Filer 1 and 2” that reads “If Alimony paid, was this order finalized or modified on or after January 1, 2019” with a “yes” or “no” check box.

IMPLEMENTATION

Changes identified in this SR will take place on July 26, 2024. Open cases that may be affected by this policy have been reviewed and adjusted accordingly.

CLIENT NOTIFICATION

No client notification is planned or needed.

TRAINING

Training will occur with the procedural guidance of the above policy.

DISPOSITION

This SR may be destroyed or deleted after its contents have been noted and the revised manual topics released by this SR have been posted to the Online Manuals.

DISTRIBUTION

This SR will be distributed according to the electronic distribution list for BFA policy releases. This SR, and revised Online Manuals, will be available for agency staff in the Online Manual Library, and for public access on the Internet at https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/sr_htm/sr.htm, effective August, 1 2024.

BFA/DMS: 24-21 (sl)