WSR 14-17-032
EMERGENCY RULES
HEALTH CARE AUTHORITY
(Washington Apple Health)
[Filed August 13, 2014, 10:26 a.m., effective August 13, 2014, 10:26 a.m.]
Effective Date of Rule: Immediately upon filing.
Purpose: To bring the rule into compliance with federal law.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 182-512-0770.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 41.05.021, 41.05.160.
Other Authority: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act established under Public Law 111-148; and Code of Federal Regulations at 42 C.F.R. § 431, 435, and 457, and 45 C.F.R. § 155.
Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that state or federal law or federal rule or a federal deadline for state receipt of federal funds requires immediate adoption of a rule.
Reasons for this Finding: The rule regarding the treatment of excluded income and resources of American Indians and Alaska Natives is not compliant with federal law.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: August 13, 2014.
Kevin M. Sullivan
Rules Coordinator
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 14-07-059, filed 3/14/14, effective 4/14/14)
WAC 182-512-0770 SSI-related medicalAmerican Indian/Alaska Native excluded income and resources.
(1) The agency excludes the following types of income from being considered when determining eligibility for Washington apple health (WAH) categorically needy (CN) and medically needy (MN) SSI-related programs for American Indians/Alaska Natives:
(a) ((Distributions received by an individual Alaska Native or descendant of an Alaska Native from an Alaska Native Regional and Village Corporation pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, P.L. 92-203 and 100-241, as follows:
(i) Cash, including cash dividends on stock received from a Native Corporation, to the extent that it does not, in the aggregate, exceed two thousand dollars per person each calendar year;
(ii) Stock, including stock issued or distributed by a Native Corporation as a dividend or distribution on stock;
(iii) A partnership interest;
(iv) Land or an interest in land, including land or an interest in land received from a Native Corporation as a dividend or distribution on stock; and
(v) An interest in a settlement trust.
(b) Income received from Indian trust funds or lands held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior for an Indian tribe or individual tribal member, P.L. 98-64, including any interest and investment income accrued while such funds are held in trust;
(c) Income received from Indian judgment funds held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior or distributed per capita under P.L. 93-134 as amended by P.L. 97-458, including any interest and investment income accrued while such funds are held in trust;
(d) Up to two thousand dollars per person per calendar year received from individual interests in trust or restricted lands under section 13736 of P.L. 103-66; and
(e) Income received by members of specific Indian tribes and groups that is excluded by federal law (as more fully listed in Appendix to Subpart K of Title 20, Part 416 of the Code of Federal Regulations) including, but not limited to, the following:
(i) Payments from an annuity fund established by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians Settlement Act of 1989, P.L. 101-41, made to a Puyallup tribe member upon reaching twenty-one years of age;
(ii) Payments from the trust fund established by P.L. 101-41 made to a Puyallup tribe member;
(iii) Payments under the White Earth Reservation Land Settlement Act of 1985, P.L. 99-264, Section 16;
(iv) Payments made from submarginal land held in trust for certain Indian tribes as designated by P.L. 94-114; and
(v) Payments under the Senecal Nation Settlement Act, P.L. 101-503.)) Distributions from Alaska Native corporations and settlement trusts;
(b) Distributions from any property held in trust, subject to federal restrictions, located within the most recent boundaries of a prior federal reservation, or otherwise under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior;
(c) Distributions and payments from rents, leases, rights of way, royalties, usage rights, or natural resource extraction and harvest from:
(i) Rights of ownership or possession in any lands described in (c)(ii) of this subsection; or
(ii) Federally protected rights regarding off-reservation hunting, fishing, gathering, or usage of natural resources.
(d) Distributions resulting from real property ownership interests related to natural resources and improvements that are:
(i) Located on or near a reservation or within the most recent boundaries of a prior federal reservation; or
(ii) Resulting from the exercise of federally protected rights relating to such real property ownership interests.
(e) Payments resulting from ownership interests in or usage rights to items that have unique religious, spiritual, traditional, or cultural significance or rights that support subsistence or a traditional lifestyle according to applicable tribal law or custom;
(f) Student financial assistance provided under the Bureau of Indian Affairs education programs; and
(g) Any other applicable income exclusion as provided by federal law, regulation, or rule.
(2) The agency excludes the following types of resources from being considered when determining eligibility for WAH-CN and WAH-MN SSI-related programs for American Indians/Alaska Natives:
(a) Property, including real property and improvements, that is held in trust, subject to federal restrictions, or otherwise under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior; located on a reservation, including any federally recognized Indian tribe's reservation, pueblo, or colony, including former reservations in Oklahoma, Alaska Native regions established by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and Indian allotments on or near a reservation as designated and approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior;
(b) For any federally recognized tribe not described in (a) of this subsection, property located within the most recent boundaries of a prior federal reservation;
(c) Ownership interests in rents, leases, royalties, or usage rights related to natural resources (including extraction of natural resources or harvesting of timber, other plants and plant products, animals, fish and shellfish) resulting from the exercise of federally protected rights; and
(d) Ownership interests in or usage rights to items not covered in (a), (b), or (c) of this subsection that have unique religious, spiritual, traditional, or cultural significance or rights that support subsistence or a traditional lifestyle according to applicable tribal law or custom.
(3) When determining eligibility for WAH-CN and WAH-MN SSI-related programs for American Indians/Alaska Natives, the agency counts ((of excluded)) or excludes amounts received by tribal members from exercise of gaming revenues (per capita distributions) that are retained after the month of receipt based on the type of resource in which the money is retained. If the amounts are retained in a countable resource (for example, cash, checking account, or savings account), the agency treats the amounts as a countable resource. If the amounts are converted to an excluded resource (for example, personal property like a refrigerator), the agency treats the amounts as excluded resources.