Get Latest WorkWORLD

Residential Care Facility (RCF) Resource and Income Guidelines for Married Couples - Iowa

When a person is applying for RCF payment assistance, the person’s living arrangement determines how income and resources are evaluated.

Spouses Living Separately:

When the person living in an RCF is married, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) eligibility policy is followed to determine if the spouse’s income and resources must be considered when determining eligibility for State Supplementary Assistance and the amount of client participation.

·        When one or both partners of a married couple are receiving SSI before one or both enters an RCF, the spouses are treated as a couple during the month of entry, then as individuals beginning the month after the month of entry.

·        When neither partner of a married couple is eligible for SSI before the entry of one or both into an RCF, the spouses are treated separately beginning in the month of entry.

The married person might have been ineligible for SSI while living at home because the spouse’s income made their income too high. In the RCF, the person would be treated as an individual. If the person’s income and resources are less than the SSI payment standard for an individual, the person must now apply for and accept SSI benefits. The RCF application is pended until the SSI application is processed.

Spouses Sharing a Room in a Residential Care Facility:

During their first month in the RCF, spouses who live together in the same room of an RCF are treated as a couple. The spouses are income-eligible for State Supplementary Assistance for that month if the combined income available for client participation is less than twice the income limit for one person (31 times the per diem rate for the facility).

After the month of entry, spouses are treated as individuals when determining eligibility and client participation. If one member of the couple has income less than the SSI payment, that spouse must apply for and accept SSI benefits. The application is pended until the SSI application is processed.

Also see:

·           Residential Care Facility Assistance Income Limits

·           Nonfinancial Eligibility for Residential Care Facility (RCF) Assistance

·           Resource and Income Guidelines for Residential Care Facility (RCF) Assistance

·           Overview of Iowa's State Administered State Supplementary Assistance Programs.

·           Overview of Benefits in Iowa

Source: DHS Employees’ Policy Manual

Title 6, Other Income Maintenance (IM) Programs

·                Chapter B, State Supplemental Assistance, Residential Care Facility Assistance, Resource and Income Guidelines for Married Couples, Page 63-64

Regulation citations: 20 CFR 416.1163(f); 441 IAC 50.2(1) and 51.3(3)

WorkWORLD™ Help/Information System

   Share/Save: Click the button or link at left to select your favorite bookmark service and add this page.

This is one topic from the thousands available in the WorkWORLD™ software Help/Information System.
Complete information about the software is available at: http://www.WorkWORLD.org