TITLE XII
PUBLIC SAFETY AND WELFARE

CHAPTER 167
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE TO BLIND, AGED, OR DISABLED PERSONS, AND TO DEPENDENT CHILDREN

Section 167:6

    167:6 Definitions. –
I. For the purposes hereof, a person shall be eligible for old age assistance who is 65 years of age and a resident of this state. No person shall be eligible to receive such aid while receiving aid to the needy blind, aid to the permanently and totally disabled, or aid to families with dependent children.
II, III. [Repealed.]
IV. For the purposes hereof a person shall be eligible for aid to needy blind who has no vision or whose vision with correcting glasses is so defective as to prevent the performance of ordinary activities for which eyesight is essential and is a resident of the state. No person shall be eligible to receive such aid while receiving old age assistance, aid to the permanently and totally disabled, or aid to families with dependent children.
V. For purposes hereof, a person shall be eligible for aid to families with dependent children who is a needy child 17 years of age or under or 18 years of age, a full-time student in a secondary school as defined by the commissioner of the department of health and human services, and reasonably expected to complete the program before reaching 19 years of age; who has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of death, continued absence from the home, or physical or mental incapacity of a parent, or the unemployment of his or her parent who is the principal wage-earner; and who is living with his father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, stepsister, first cousin, nephew or niece, uncle, aunt, or court appointed guardian (including relatives of half-blood, relatives of preceding generations as denoted by the prefixes of grand, great, or great-great, adoptive parents and their relatives to the same degree as blood relatives and spouses of the above relatives even after the marriage is terminated by death or divorce) in a place of residence in the state maintained by one or more of such relatives, or a court appointed guardian as his or their home; or who is an otherwise eligible parent or needy caretaker relative with whom such child lives. For purposes of this section, a child who meets the above requirements shall be eligible, even if the child was removed from the home of a relative as a result of a judicial determination and was placed in a foster home and care, when the care and placement of the child are the responsibility of the department of health and human services or another public agency which meets federal requirements and the state plan, and when the child received or would have been eligible to receive aid to families with dependent children in the month in which court proceedings were initiated except that such a child need not have lived with a specified relative. No person shall be eligible to receive such aid while receiving old age assistance, aid to the needy blind, or aid to the permanently and totally disabled.
VI. For the purposes hereof, a person shall be eligible for aid to the permanently and totally disabled who is between the ages of 18 and 64 years of age inclusive; is a resident of the state; and is disabled as defined in the federal Social Security Act, Titles II and XVI and the regulations adopted under such act, except that the minimum required duration of the impairment shall be 48 months, unless and until the department adopts a 12-month standard in accordance with RSA 167:3-j. In determining disability, the standards for "substantial gainful activity" as used in the Social Security Act shall apply, including all work incentive provisions including Impairment Related Work Expenses, Plans to Achieve Self Support, and subsidies. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, eligibility for state cash assistance and medical assistance shall be conditioned upon the person filing an application or applications for any federal cash benefits for which the individual may be entitled and pursuing all appeals available for those federal cash benefits. State cash assistance for an applicant shall be denied, or for a recipient shall be terminated, upon a finding of clinical ineligibility for such federal cash benefits, except that any individual receiving cash assistance on June 30, 2011 shall only be ineligible for cash assistance upon a second finding of clinical ineligibility. Notwithstanding any provision of the law to the contrary, an individual who appeals the termination of state cash assistance, pursuant to RSA 161:4, IV, for the reasons set forth in this paragraph, shall not continue to receive such state cash assistance benefits during the pendency of such appeal unless otherwise specified by the commissioner of the department of health and human services in accordance with rules adopted under RSA 541-A. No person shall be eligible to receive such aid while receiving old age assistance, aid to the needy blind, or state cash assistance to families with dependent children.
VII. For purposes hereof, a person shall be eligible for medical assistance as categorically needy or as medically needy. A person shall be eligible as categorically needy if such person receives financial assistance under RSA 167:6, I, IV, V or VI, or is otherwise eligible to receive such assistance but does not, or is otherwise eligible, but does not due to receiving a finding of clinical ineligibility for federal cash benefits under paragraph VI. A person shall be eligible as medically needy if such person meets the categorical, age, and technical requirements under RSA 167:6, I, IV, V or VI, and if his or her income and assets meet the standards as prescribed for the medically needy program. A person shall also be eligible as categorically needy or as medically needy who is eligible for medical assistance pursuant to the mandates of federal law or regulation or pursuant to optional state coverage groups which are allowed by federal regulation and defined by the commissioner of the department of health and human services in accordance with rules adopted under RSA 541-A, but who does not receive assistance or would not be otherwise eligible to receive assistance under paragraph I, IV, V, or VI of this section.
VIII. For purposes hereof, the terms "spouse" and "surviving spouse" shall include anyone currently legally married to a recipient, or who was legally married to a recipient at the time of the recipient's death, and shall not include those to whom a legal separation has been granted by a court of competent jurisdiction.
IX. For purposes hereof, a person with a disability between 18 and 64 years of age who is eligible to participate in the work incentive program, known as Medicaid for employed adults with disabilities (MEAD), shall be eligible for medical assistance as medically needy or categorically needy. Participants in the MEAD program shall be employed at the time of enrollment, and may remain enrolled during temporary unemployment for medical reasons or other good cause.

[Paragraph IX-a effective on the date the commissioner of the department of health and human services certifies approval of the state plan amendment by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.]


IX-a. A person with a disability age 65 and older who is eligible to participate in the work incentive program, known as Medicaid for employed older adults with disabilities (MOAD), shall be eligible for medical assistance as medically needy or categorically needy but not to exclude Medicare coverage. Participants in the MOAD program shall be employed at the time of enrollment, and may remain enrolled during temporary unemployment for medical reasons or other good cause.
X. (a) For purposes hereof, an individual is ineligible for cash assistance benefits under the aid to the needy blind, aid to the permanently and totally disabled, and old age assistance programs for any month during which he or she is:
(1) Fleeing to avoid prosecution for a crime which is a felony under the laws of the place from which the individual flees, or which, in the case of the state of New Jersey, is a high misdemeanor under the laws of that state; or
(2) Fleeing to avoid custody or confinement after conviction for a crime, or an attempt to commit a crime, which is a felony under the laws of the place from which the individual flees, or which, in the case of the state of New Jersey, is a high misdemeanor under the laws of that state; or
(3) Violating any condition of probation or parole imposed under federal or state law.
(b) Suspension of benefit payments because an individual is a fugitive as described in subparagraph (a)(1) or (a)(2) or a probation or parole violator as described in subparagraph (a)(3) is effective on the first day of whichever of the following months is earlier:
(1) The month in which a warrant or order for the individual's arrest or apprehension, an order requiring the individual's appearance before a court or other appropriate tribunal, such as a parole board, or a similar order is issued by a court or other duly authorized tribunal on the basis of an appropriate finding that the individual:
(A) Is fleeing, or has fled, to avoid prosecution as described in subparagraph (a)(1);
(B) Is fleeing, or has fled, to avoid custody or confinement after conviction as described in subparagraph (a)(2);
(C) Is violating, or has violated, a condition of his or her probation or parole as described in subparagraph (a)(3); or
(D) The first month during which the individual fled to avoid such prosecution, fled to avoid such custody or confinement after conviction, or violated a condition of his or her probation or parole, if indicated in such warrant or order, or in a decision by a court or other appropriate tribunal.
(2) If benefits are otherwise payable, they shall be resumed effective on the first month throughout which the individual is determined to be no longer fleeing to avoid such prosecution, fleeing to avoid such custody or confinement after conviction, or violating a condition of his or her probation or parole.

Source. 1937, 202:12. 1939, 55:1. RL 126:12. 1945, 43:1; 179:1. 1951, 90:4; 206:1; 223:1. RSA 167:6. 1957, 116:3. 1959, 177:1, 2. 1961, 271:3. 1967, 396:5. 1969, 451:4. 1973, 423:1-4. 1983, 291:1. 1985, 394:2. 1986, 183:5-7. 1990, 45:1. 1993, 5:2; 358:58. 1994, 212:2; 301:3. 1995, 308:12; 310:181, 182. 2000, 156:2. 2001, 67:2. 2008, 76:1. 2009, 144:283. 2011, 224:289, eff. Jan. 1, 2012; 224:290, eff. July 1, 2011. 2016, 184:1, eff. June 3, 2016. 2019, 346:60, eff. July 1, 2019; 346:360. 2022, 272:21, 22, eff. July 1, 2022. 2023, 219:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2024.