State Choices to Promote Asset Protection
| Public Health Insurance for Parents | Public Health Insurance for Children | Food Stamps | TANF Cash Assistance | ||
| Asset eligibility criteria | Asset eligibility criteria | Asset eligibility criteria | Asset eligibility criteria | ||
| Assets disregarded for eligibility determination (2009)1 | Assets disregarded for Medicaid eligibility (2009)3 | Treatment of vehicles in asset test (FY 2007)6 | Assets disregarded for eligibility determination (2005)9 | At least 1 vehicle excluded from asset test (2003)10 | |
| Wyoming | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | No |
| Wisconsin | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF child care assistance rules | No | No |
| West Virginia | No ($1,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF child care assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Washington | No ($1,000) | Yes | Categorical eligibility7 | No | No |
| Virginia | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | Yes | Yes |
| Vermont | No ($3,150) | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Utah | No ($3,025) | No ($3,025)5 | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | No |
| Texas | No ($2,000) | No ($2,000) | Categorical eligibility7 | No | No |
| Tennessee | No ($2,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | No |
| South Dakota | No ($2,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| South Carolina | No ($30,000) | No ($30,000) | Categorical eligibility and aligned to TANF cash assistance rules7 | No | Yes |
| Rhode Island | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | No |
| Pennsylvania | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Oregon | No ($2,500) | Yes | Categorical eligibility7 | No | No |
| Oklahoma | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | No |
| Ohio | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | Yes | Not applicable11 |
| North Dakota | Yes | Yes | Categorical eligibility7 | No | Yes |
| North Carolina | No ($3,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| New York | No ($6,600) | Yes | Aligned to TANF-funded non-cash assistance rules | No | No |
| New Mexico | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF child care assistance rules | No | Yes |
| New Jersey | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | No |
| New Hampshire | No ($1,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Nevada | No ($2,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Nebraska | No ($6,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF child care assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Montana | No ($3,000) | No ($15,000) | Aligned to TANF child care assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Missouri | Yes | Yes4 | Aligned to TANF child care assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Mississippi | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Minnesota | No ($20,000) | Yes | Categorical eligibility | No | No |
| Michigan | No ($3,000) | Yes | Categorical eligibility7 | No | Yes |
| Massachusetts | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF child care assistance rules | No | No |
| Maryland | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Maine | No ($2,000)2 | Yes | Categorical eligibility and aligned to TANF cash assistance rules7 | No | Yes |
| Louisiana | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Kentucky | No ($2,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Kansas | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Iowa | No ($2,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | No |
| Indiana | No ($1,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF child care assistance rules | No | No |
| Illinois | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Idaho | No ($1,000) | Yes | Federal food stamp rules8 | No | No |
| Hawaii | No ($3,250) | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Georgia | No ($1,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF-funded non-cash assistance rules | No | No |
| Florida | No ($2,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | No |
| District of Columbia | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Delaware | Yes | Yes | Categorical eligibility7 | No | No |
| Connecticut | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | No |
| Colorado | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF child care assistance rules | No | Yes, if used for employment |
| California | No ($3,150) | Yes | Aligned to TANF child care assistance rules | No | No |
| Arkansas | No ($1,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Arizona | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Alaska | No ($2,000) | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
| Alabama | Yes | Yes | Aligned to TANF cash assistance rules | No | Yes |
Data Notes & Sources
- Donna Cohen Ross and Caryn Marks. 2009. Challenges of Providing Health Coverage of Children and Parents in a Recession: A 50-State Update on Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures, and Cost-Sharing Practices in Medicaid and SCHIP in 2009, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. http://www.kff.org (accessed February 16, 2009).
- Maine's asset rules exempt $12,000 in certain savings, including retirement savings, for a household of 2 or more.
- Rule applies to SCHIP-funded Medicaid expansions, where applicable.
Donna Cohen Ross and Caryn Marks. 2009. Challenges of Providing Health Coverage of Children and Parents in a Recession: A 50-State Update on Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures, and Cost-Sharing Practices in Medicaid and SCHIP in 2009, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. http://www.kff.org (accessed February 16, 2009). - Children in families with income above 150 percent of the federal poverty line are subject to a $250,000 "net worth" test.
- Utah counts assets in determining Medicaid eligibility for children over the age of six.
- Households in which all members receive TANF cash assistance or SSI benefits do not have to meet gross income or asset eligibility criteria. Most states also waive these criteria for recipients of certain other benefits; some states waive these criteria for nearly all applicants.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "States' Vehicle Asset Policies in the Food Stamp Program," November 2006. - Virtually all food stamp households in the state are authorized to receive a TANF-funded benefit that makes them categorically eligible for food stamps and thus exempt from the gross income and asset tests.
- Federal food stamp rules exclude the first $4,650 in fair market value of 1 vehicle per adult household member. Vehicles that meet certain criteria are excluded entirely.
- Gretchen Rowe with Jeffrey Versteeg, The Welfare Rules Databook: State Policies as of July 2005, Assessing the New Federalism, The Urban Institute, 2006.
- Gretchen Rowe with Jeffrey Versteeg, The Welfare Rules Databook: State Policies as of July 2003, Assessing the New Federalism, The Urban Institute, 2005.
- Ohio has eliminated the asset test.