Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Protecting Families with Disabilities Act of 2016”.
Protecting Families with Disabilities Act of 2016
A BILL
To clarify the application of spousal impoverishment protections for recipients of home and community-based services under Medicaid.
Sec. 2 Clarification regarding application of Medicaid spousal impoverishment protections to recipients of home and community-based services
In general— Section 2404 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r–5 note) is amended—
by striking “During” and inserting the following:
“(a) In general—During”
by adding at the end the following:
“(b) Rule of construction—During the period in which subsection (a) is in effect, nothing in subsection (a) or section 1924 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r–5) shall be construed as prohibiting a State that, as of January 1, 2014, had a home and community-based waiver approved under section 1915(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1396n(c)) under which the State disregarded the income and assets of the individual’s spouse in determining the initial and ongoing financial eligibility of an individual for services provided under such home and community-based waiver in place of the spousal impoverishment provisions applied under such section 1924, from continuing to disregard the individual’s spousal income and assets for purposes of making such determinations while such waiver remains in effect.”
Effective date— The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect as if enacted on January 1, 2014.