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Medicaid for Employed People with Disabilities (MEPD) - Overview - Iowa

Medicaid for Employed People with Disabilities (MEPD) is a Medicaid coverage group implemented to allow persons with disabilities to work and continue to have access to medical assistance.

To qualify:

¨    You must be disabled. If you receive the following you will be considered disabled for MEPD:

·     Supplemental Security Income (SSI) because you are disabled;

·     Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI); or if your

·     SSDI benefits have stopped due to earned income but you continue to be eligible for Medicare.

·     If you are not receiving these benefits you may also qualify as disabled if your disability meets the medical criteria used to establish disability for benefits administered by the Social Security Administration. The Department of Human Services will make a determination about your medical impairments.

¨    You must be under age 65.

¨    You must have earned income from employment or self-employment.

¨    Monthly net family income must be less than 250% of the federal poverty level for your family size. Net income is your gross family income minus all disregards and exemptions that are allowed for SSI, including the $20 General Income Deduction, the $65 Earned Income Deduction, deductions from earned income for Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWE) and 50% of the remaining Earned Income, and deduction for Blind Work Expenses (BWE), and for Plans for Achieving Self-Support (PASS).

(For details, see Iowa DHS Employees' Policy Manual, Title 8, Chapter F, Medicaid for Employed People with Disabilities, Family Income less than 250%, pages 116-117, and Chapter E, SSI-Related Deductions, Pages 58-67.)

¨    You will be required to pay a monthly premium when your monthly gross income is above 150% of the federal poverty level . (Premiums are calculated based on the gross income of only the disabled individual.) Premiums must be paid before you can receive Medicaid.

(See MEPD Premium Amount for the table of premium amounts.)

¨    Your countable resources must be $12,000 or less for an individual and $13,000 or less for a couple.

Some resources are exempt from consideration for all SSI-Related Medicaid coverage groups. (See SSI-Related Resource Exclusions for a list of such resources.)

There are additional resources that are exempt from consideration for eligibility for MEPD. They are:

·     Retirement accounts such as simplified employee pension plans, self-employment pension plans, Keogh plans, individual retirement accounts, Roth individual retirement accounts, savings incentive matched plans for employees and similar plans for retirement.

·     Funds in assistive technology accounts, which are funds saved for the purchase, lease or acquisition of assistive technology, assistive technology devices, or assistive technology services. To be exempt a physician, certified vocational rehabilitation counselor, licensed physical therapist, licensed speech therapist, or licensed occupational therapist must establish the need for such technology and that the technology can reasonably be expected to enhance the individual’s employment.

·     Funds placed in a medical savings account that is exempt from federal income taxation pursuant to Section 220 of the United States Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 220).

¨    You must meet all other eligibility criteria for SSI-Related Medicaid.

To find out if you qualify for this coverage group, you must file a Medicaid application at your county Department of Human Services (DHS) office and complete the application process.

You will receive a Notice of Decision that will tell you the amount of your premium and the six-month premium period.

See:

·     Medicaid for Employed People with Disabilities - Premium Amount

See Also:

·           Overview of Medical Assistance in Iowa

·           Welcome and Introduction to Benefits in Iowa

Source: Iowa Dept of Human Services Employees Manual

Title 8 Medicaid

·                        Chapter F, Coverage Groups, Medicaid for Employed People with Disabilities, Pages 113 - 123

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