This article is a section taken from MA for Employed Persons with Disabilities (MA-EPD), a part of the revisions and additions to the Minnesota Health Care Program Eligibility Policy Manual.

Assets

Assets are items of value that people own like bank accounts, stocks and bonds, cars, and real estate.

That definition is the one used in the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Health Care Programs Eligibility Policy Manual § 2.3.5.3.1.

Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities (MA-EPD) helps you keep health coverage while you are working with a disability. Since January 1, 2024, MA-EPD does not limit the amount of assets you may own. Your eligibility turns on your disability status (you meet the Supplemental Security Income definition of disabled but for your excess earnings or assets), earned income of more than $65 per month, and payment of a monthly premium. See Minn. Stat. § 256B.057, subd. 9. There is no asset limit for MA-EPD (Minnesota Department of Human Services, Health Care Programs Eligibility Policy Manual § 2.3.5.3.1: “There is no asset limit for Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities (MA-EPD)”). Because there is no asset limit, asset verification no longer applies to MA-EPD applicants or enrollees (Minnesota Department of Human Services Bulletin 23-21-28).

Asset Limit

There is no asset limit for MA-EPD. Before January 1, 2024, the limit was $20,000 for enrollees age 21 and older, and children younger than 21 had no asset limit. The 2023 Legislature eliminated that cap, effective January 1, 2024, so the age-based distinction no longer applies. You can own any amount of assets and remain eligible. The operative rule is now Minn. Stat. § 256B.056, subd. 3(b): “No asset limit shall apply to persons eligible under sections 256B.055, subdivision 15, and 256B.057, subdivision 9.” See also Minnesota Department of Human Services Bulletin 23-21-28 (DHS Eliminates the Asset Limit for MA-EPD).

Asset Exclusions

Because MA-EPD has no asset limit, MA-EPD enrollees are expressly exempt from the MA for People Who Are Age 65 or Older and People Who Are Blind or Have a Disability (MA-ABD) asset test (Eligibility Policy Manual § 2.3.3.2.1). The MA-ABD asset limit itself still exists at $3,000 for one person and $6,000 for a two-person household under Minn. Stat. § 256B.056, subd. 3, but it no longer determines whether you qualify for MA-EPD.

Changing Basis of Eligibility after Job Loss

If you lose your job for reasons not attributable to you and are without earned income, or you are temporarily unable to work because of a medical condition verified by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant, you may keep MA-EPD eligibility for up to four consecutive months after the month of job loss. To receive that extension, you must provide notification of the job loss (or verify the medical condition), continue to meet all other eligibility requirements, and continue to pay all calculated premiums. See Minn. Stat. § 256B.057, subd. 9(c).

When you no longer qualify as an employed person with a disability due to loss of earnings and your eligibility is redetermined under an MA-ABD basis, the assets you were allowed under MA-EPD are not considered for 12 months, beginning with the first month of ineligibility (Minn. Stat. § 256B.056, subd. 3(a)(5)). After those 12 months, the standard MA-ABD asset limit applies ($3,000 for one person, $6,000 for a household of two). If you lose MA-ABD eligibility for one calendar month or more during that 12-month window, the MA-ABD asset limit applies to all later months (Eligibility Policy Manual § 2.3.5.2.1).

Changing Basis of Eligibility after Age 65

If you become ineligible for MA-EPD at age 65 or older because you stopped working or no longer meet the work requirements, and you were enrolled in MA-EPD during each of the 24 consecutive months before your 65th birthday, certain MA-EPD rules carry over when your eligibility is redetermined for MA for People Age 65 or Older. Your spouse’s income and assets are not deemed to you, and you qualify for MA-ABD with no asset limit for up to 12 months, followed by MA-ABD eligibility with a $20,000 asset limit. This carryover is set out in the Minnesota Department of Human Services Health Care Programs Eligibility Policy Manual § 2.3.5.2.1, which administers the MA-EPD program; the statute that establishes MA-EPD, Minn. Stat. § 256B.057, subd. 9, does not itself contain this age-65 transition rule.

A separate, permanent protection may also apply. If you were enrolled in MA-EPD for a 24-consecutive-month period, you may designate an employment incentives asset account, which is disregarded when your eligibility for MA for People Age 65 or Older is determined. That account holds qualified assets you owned in your last month of MA-EPD enrollment: retirement and pension accounts, medical expense accounts, and up to $17,000 of your other nonexcluded liquid assets. The account is no longer designated if you lose Medical Assistance for a calendar month or more before turning age 65. See Minn. Stat. § 256B.056, subd. 3(a)(6).

CREDIT: The content of this post has been copied or adopted from the Minnesota Healthcare Programs Eligibility Policy Manual, originally published by the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

This is also part of a series of posts on Minnesota Healthcare Eligibility Policies.