Medicare Savings Programs: Mississippi's combined couple test for an ineligible spouse, $5 investment income exclusion and COLA disregard #10479

Problem

Mississippi applies several "liberalized income" rules to the Medicare Savings Programs (QMB, SLMB and QI). PolicyEngine's msp_countable_income encodes the $50 general exclusion (#10360), but not three of the other rules in 23 Miss. Admin. Code Part 104, Rule 1.1(C)(2):

• (c) Ineligible spouse. "The SSI budgeting practice that requires an individual who is married to an ineligible spouse to be eligible as both an individual and as a member of a couple is replaced with one test in which the couple's income is combined after allocating to the ineligible children from the ineligible spouse's income. The couple's countable income is then tested against the couple limit appropriate to the coverage group."
  • PolicyEngine follows SSI deeming. It counts the ineligible spouse's income only when it exceeds the SSI couple-minus-individual difference ($497 a month in 2026), and tests against the individual limit.
• (d) Small investment income. "Interest, dividend and royalty income that does not exceed $5 per month per individual is excluded."
• (g) Cost-of-living increases. Title II, VA, Civil Service and Railroad Retirement cost-of-living increases are disregarded while the poverty guideline update is smaller than the increase.

Proposed work

• Add a by-state switch that always combines an ineligible spouse's income with the applicant's (after child allocations) and tests the couple against the couple limit. Set it true for MS.
• Add a by-state exclusion of up to $5 a month of interest, dividend and royalty income per person (MS).
• Decide whether rule (g) can be modeled from the model's Social Security COLA and poverty guideline parameters, or document it as a limitation.
• Add YAML cases:
  • a Mississippi applicant whose ineligible spouse earns below the $497 threshold, tested as a couple;
  • a case with $4 a month of interest.

Related

• Apply state Medicare Savings Program asset limits and income exclusions (WA, CA, MN, IL, MS) #10360 (Mississippi's $50 exclusion and asset test date).