BILL REQ. #:  Z-0037.4 

Read first time 01/15/2007.   Referred to Committee on Health Care & Wellness.

     AN ACT Relating to eligibility for long-term care services; and adding a new section to chapter 74.04 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 74.04 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) For purposes of RCW 74.04.005(10)(a), an applicant or recipient is not eligible for long-term care services if the applicant or recipient's equity interest in the home exceeds an amount established by the department in rule, which shall not be less than five hundred thousand dollars. This requirement does not apply if any of the following persons related to the applicant or recipient are legally residing in the home:
     (a) A spouse; or
     (b) A dependent child under age twenty-one; or
     (c) A dependent child with a disability; or
     (d) A dependent child who is blind; and
     (e) The dependent child in (c) and (d) of this subsection meets the federal supplemental security income program criteria for disabled and blind.
     (2) The dollar amounts specified in this section shall be increased annually, beginning in 2011, from year to year based on the percentage increase in the consumer price index for all urban consumers, all items, United States city average, rounded to the nearest one thousand dollars.
     (3) This section applies to individuals who are determined eligible for medical assistance with respect to long-term care services based on an application filed on or after May 1, 2006.