2019 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 17b - Social Services
Chapter 319mm - Assistance to the Disabled
Section 17b-600 - (Formerly Sec. 17-109). Optional state supplementation program. Eligibility.

The Commissioner of Social Services shall administer a program of optional state supplementation as provided for by Title XVI of the Social Security Act, as amended, and shall administer the program in accordance with the requirements provided therein. In accordance with the requirements of Title XVI of said Social Security Act, optional state supplementation may be provided to aged, blind and disabled individuals who receive supplemental security income benefits or who would be eligible to receive such benefits except for income, provided that any applicant or recipient of optional state supplementation shall be ineligible for such supplementary assistance if such person has made, within twenty-four months prior to the date of application for such aid, an assignment or transfer or other disposition of property for less than fair market value, for the purpose of establishing eligibility for benefits or assistance under this section, provided ineligibility because of such disposition shall continue only for either (1) twenty-four months after the date of disposition, or (2) that period of time from date of disposition over which the fair market value of such property, less any consideration received in exchange for its disposition, together with all other income and resources, would furnish support on a reasonable standard of health and decency, whichever period is shorter, except that in any case where the uncompensated value of disposed of resources exceeds twelve thousand dollars, the Commissioner of Social Services shall provide for a period of ineligibility based on the uncompensated value which exceeds twenty-four months. Any disposition shall be presumed to have been made for the purpose of establishing eligibility for benefits or assistance unless the individual furnishes convincing evidence to establish that the transaction was exclusively for some other purpose or the disposition was made to a trust that complies with Section 1917(d)(4) of the Social Security Act, 42 USC 1396p(d)(4), as from time to time amended, and (A) the individual resides in a residential care home, as defined in subdivision (17) of subsection (a) of section 19-13-D6 of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies or resides in the facility established by New Horizons, Inc. pursuant to section 19a-507; (B) the individual's available income, as defined in section 5000.01 of the department's uniform policy manual (i) exceeds three hundred per cent of the maximum Supplemental Security Income program benefit for an individual, and (ii) is below the private rate for the residential care home in which the individual resides or for the facility established by New Horizons, Inc., as applicable; (C) the trust is funded solely with the excess income described in subparagraph (B) of this subdivision; and (D) the trust provides that the state will receive, after repayment of Medicaid assistance paid to or on behalf of the individual as set forth in Section 1917(d)(4) of the Social Security Act, all amounts remaining in the trust upon the death of such individual up to an amount equal to the total state supplemental assistance paid on behalf of the individual under this section. The commissioner shall disregard all excess income used to fund such a trust in determining eligibility for the program of optional state supplementation. Property which is exempted from consideration in determining the financial eligibility of an individual for benefits or assistance, such as a house in which the individual resides, shall not be subject to the provisions of this section regarding transfers of property if such property is disposed of while an individual is receiving benefits or assistance under this section. The program of optional state supplementation shall be administered in accordance with regulations to be adopted by the Department of Social Services, which regulations shall be consistent with the requirements of Title XVI of the Social Security Act pertaining to programs of optional state supplementation. Until such time as regulations are adopted by the department governing the program of optional state supplementation, the department is authorized to administer said program in accordance with the regulations and departmental policy manual provisions applicable to the aid to the elderly, aid to the blind and aid to the disabled programs, which regulations and policy manual provisions shall be fully applicable to the program of optional state supplementation, except that in no event shall optional state supplementation be given to persons who either are not recipients of federal supplemental security income benefits or are not persons who, except for income, would be eligible for supplemental security income benefits.

(1949 Rev., S. 2866; 1949, 1951, 1953, S. 1601d; 1957, P.A. 198; 1959, P.A. 627; 1961, P.A. 134; 383, S. 2; 1963, P.A. 69, S. 2; 1967, P.A. 302; 1969, P.A. 297; 1972, P.A. 61; June, 1972, P.A. 1, S. 13; P.A. 73-39, S. 2; P.A. 80-469, S. 2; P.A. 81-214, S. 1; P.A. 83-84, S. 1; P.A. 87-390, S. 2, 4; 87-589, S. 60, 87; P.A. 93-262, S. 1, 87; P.A. 09-73, S. 1.)

History: 1959 act added proviso to Subdiv. (e) eliminating former 3-year requirement for assignment or transfer; 1961 acts deleted 1-year residence requirement for eligibility and exception for inmate of almshouse and added provision in Subdiv. (d) that persons whose eligibility is based on having attained age 65 would be eligible for medical institutional care for 42 days; 1963 act added requirement for considering other income and resources in Subdiv. (e); 1967 act removed provision added to Subdiv. (d) in 1961 and added disqualification of being less than 65 in lieu thereof; 1969 act substituted “community correctional center” for “jail”; 1972 acts restated exception in Subdiv. (d) and deleted restriction on eligibility to those 65 or older in excepted institutions; P.A. 73-39 added 7-year limitation relative to property disposition in Subdiv. (e); P.A. 80-469 reduced limitation in Subdiv. (e) to 1 year, referred to disposition of property “for less than fair value” rather than “without reasonable consideration” and clarified duration of ineligibility; P.A. 81-214 increased period of ineligibility in Subdiv. (e) from 1 year to 24 months, revised Subpara. (1) so that ineligibility continues for 24 months after date of “disposition” rather than “application”, added exception re cases where uncompensated value exceeds $12,000, deleted provision allowing commissioner to provide assistance for persons otherwise ineligible under Subdiv. (e) when there is reasonable likelihood of recovering against the transferee pursuant to Sec. 17-83l, added provisions re presumption of transfer to establish eligibility and re circumstances under which exempt property is subject to provisions of Subdiv. (e); P.A. 83-84 specified applicability to assistance awards “under this chapter”; P.A. 87-390 rewrote the section to change the program from old age assistance to optional state supplementation, changed the eligibility criteria and added the provisions on regulations; P.A. 87-589 required that income maintenance commissioner administer optional supplementation program by substituting “shall” for “may”; P.A. 93-262 authorized substitution of commissioner and department of social services for commissioner and department of income maintenance, effective July 1, 1993; Sec. 17-109 transferred to Sec. 17b-600 in 1995; P.A. 09-73 added provisions requiring commissioner to disregard disposition of assets to a trust in certain circumstances when determining eligibility for optional state supplementation and made a technical change, effective July 1, 2009.

Annotations to former section 17-109:

Cited. 168 C. 336; 172 C. 292. “Transfer-of-assets” rule violates supremacy clause of the federal constitution by presuming assets are available to welfare recipients which are in fact not available. 176 C. 57. Cited. 211 C. 323.

Cited. 32 CS 523.

Mother who relinquished life interest in property to sons in return for their agreement to support her “until she dies” held ineligible for old age assistance. 4 Conn. Cir. Ct. 338–343. Cited. 6 Conn. Cir. Ct. 354.

Annotation to present section:

Trial court properly determined that special needs trust established by plaintiff for the benefit of her son is an asset that department could take into account in determining the son's eligibility for state supplemental assistance benefits; since federal law permits an optional state-funded and state-administered benefits program to adopt eligibility criteria that are more stringent than those that govern the parallel federal program, department's eligibility rules are consistent with federal law. 82 CA 877.