Important Changes to MA-EPD

Age Requirements

The first change eliminates the age requirements for MA-EPD eligibility. Before April 1, 2012, people younger than 16 or older than 65 who were certified as disabled were not eligible for MA-EPD even if they met the employment criteria for MA-EPD. After April 1, 2012 a person of any age who meets ALL of the criteria for MA-EPD can apply for or remain on MA-EPD.

Assets

The second change continues to disregard certain assets when a person is no longer eligible for MA-EPD but wants to remain on basic MA. Assets owned by a person and the person’s spouse are disregarded up to the MA-EPD asset limit when determining basic MA eligibility if:

• The person is age 65 or older; and
• The person was enrolled in MA-EPD for 20 out of 24 months prior to the month of the person’s 65th birthday.

Note: Effective January 1, 2014, the person must have received MA-EPD for 24 consecutive months prior to the month of the person’s 65th birthday to qualify for the asset disregard.

Income

The third change involves disregarding a spouse’s income when a person is no longer eligible for MA-EPD but wants to remain on basic MA. A spouse’s income is disregarded when determining eligibility for basic MA if the person was enrolled in MA-EPD during each of the 24 consecutive months prior to the person’s 65th birthday.

Note: DHS will track the number of months a person has been on MA-EPD before the month of the person’s 65th birthday and report to the enrollee’s county worker for both the asset and spousal income disregard. No additional steps need to be taken by enrollees.

All of the other MA-EPD policies, such as reimbursement of Medicare Part B premiums when income is no greater than 200% FPG, continue to apply to anyone enrolled in MA-EPD.

If you have any questions regarding these changes please contact your county or tribal human services office. They will verify that all MA-EPD eligibility criteria are met for people who want to be re-enrolled or remain on MA-EPD.