HHSC exempts the following from countable resources:
(1) funds in a retirement account (even if accessible,
so long as the funds remain in the account);
(2) balances in the Texas Guaranteed Tuition Plan (formerly
called the Texas Tomorrow Fund) even if accessible, so long as the
funds remain in the account;
(3) crime victim's compensation payments;
(4) earned income tax credit (EIC) payments to applicants
the month of receipt and the following month, and to recipients the
month of receipt and the following 11 months, unless there is a break
in certification of more than 30 days, in which case any remaining
portion of the EIC payment is counted as a resource;
(5) payments or allowances made under any federal law
for the purpose of energy assistance;
(6) federal disaster payments and comparable disaster
assistance provided by states, local governments, and disaster assistance
organizations if the applicant or recipient is subject to legal penalties
if the funds are not used as intended;
(7) transitional living allowances;
(8) any resource federal law excludes;
(9) funds from veterans payments earmarked as a housebound
allowance or as an aid and attendance allowance;
(10) the cash value of life insurance policies;
(11) an amount up to $7,500 per person of prepaid burial
insurance (or of a prepaid funeral plan);
(12) loans, if the circumstances satisfy HHSC that
there exists an understanding the money will be repaid, and the applicant
or recipient reasonably explains to HHSC how the money will be repaid;
(13) personal possessions HHSC determines are essential
for daily living, such as clothing, jewelry, furniture, livestock,
and farm equipment;
(14) burial plots;
(15) the homestead and surrounding real property, including:
(A) any structure, including a houseboat or a motor
home, the applicant or recipient uses as its primary residence;
(B) surrounding real property divided by a public right-of-way
(such as a street or road) but not divided by real property owned
by others; and
(C) the homestead if it is temporarily unoccupied due
to employment, training for future employment, illness, casualty,
or natural disaster, as long as the household intends to return;
(16) income-producing property (any real or personal
property that generates income) that:
(A) is essential to a household composition member's
employment or self-employment (such as tools of a trade, farm machinery,
stock, and inventory), including:
(i) during temporary periods of unemployment if the
household composition member expects to return to work; and
(ii) for farmers or fishers, the value of the land
or equipment for one year after the date the self-employment ceases;
(B) annually produces income consistent with a fair
market value comparable in the community (as determined by HHSC through
sources such as local realtors, tax assessors, and the Small Business
Administration), even if used only on a seasonal basis such as rental
property; or
(C) is that portion of the property that is necessary
for the maintenance or use of a vehicle exempted as income-producing
or as necessary for transporting a physically disabled household member;
(17) real property HHSC determines the applicant or
recipient is making a good faith effort to sell;
(18) resources HHSC determines are not accessible to
the applicant or recipient;
(19) funds from educational assistance payments (but
only during the quarter, semester, or applicable period the payment
is intended to cover);
(20) equity value of resources that are not legally
available (inaccessible) to the household;
(21) a nonliquid resource if its equity is less than
or equal to $1,500;
(22) a One-Time Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(OTTANF) payment for the month of receipt and any remaining OTTANF
benefits the month after receipt;
(23) a TANF One-Time Grandparent payment;
(24) reimbursements earmarked and used for replacing
or repairing an exempt resource;
(25) for an applicant or recipient who lives at the
same physical address as a sponsored alien, the resources of a sponsor
and the sponsor's spouse to the extent allowed by federal law;
(26) resources of residents in shelters for battered
women and children if:
(A) resources are jointly owned by the member of the
household composition in the shelter and household composition members
of the former physical living address; and
(B) shelter resident's access to the value of the resource
depends on the agreement of a joint owner who still lives in the resident's
former physical living address;
(27) resources of a recipient of Supplemental Security
Income living in the home;
(28) liquid resources resulting from the earnings of
a certified child who is attending school full time, or less than
full time and employed less than 30 hours per week; and
(29) funds held in a school-based account or bond as
described by §28.0024 of the Texas Education Code and authorized
by §32.02611 of the Texas Human Resources Code.
|
