16 Del. Admin. Code § 20000-20200
Available income Is the total amount of money authorized (designated by the payor) for the recipient's benefit, whether received by the recipient directly or received by a representative payee. Income includes anything received by the individual, in cash or in kind, that can be used to meet needs for food, clothing or shelter.
Excluded income is money which is income by definition but does not count in determining eligibility. Some income is excluded when determining eligibility, but may be included when calculating patient pay amount. The following items are excluded income:
9 DE Reg. 239 (8/1/05)
Some items that an individual receives are not income because they do not meet the definition of income. An item received is not income if it is neither food, clothing, or shelter nor can be used to obtain food, clothing, or shelter. The following items are not income:
Replacement of income already received and counted as income in determining eligibility. (If income is lost, stolen, or destroyed and the claimant receives a replacement, e.g., for a stolen Title II check, the replacement is not income.)
Income from all sources after business expenses, where applicable, have been deducted and before any disregards, exemptions or deductions such as taxes, health insurance premiums such as Medicare, life insurance premiums, loan payments, garnishments, credit union, alimony, child support (including court ordered), union dues etc. have been applied.
Income is counted at the earliest of the following points: when it is received; or, when it is credited to an individual's account; or when it is set aside for his or her use. Income is determined monthly and counted in the month it is received. (20 CFR 416.1111 and 416.1123)
Occasionally, a regular periodic payment is received in a month other than the month of normal receipt. As long as there is no intent to interrupt the regular payment schedule, consider the funds to be income in the normal month of receipt. For example, a check may be advance dated because the regular payment date falls on a weekend or holiday.
Income which is paid because of a legal or moral obligation rather than for work activity performed. It is all income that is not earned income. This includes Social Security, Railroad Retirement, pensions, benefits, interest and other types of payments. Since different exclusions apply to earned income than to unearned income, it is important to recognize the difference between them.
Income which is received as a result of work activity. This includes gross wages, salaries, tips and commissions before taxes or other deductions such as pension fund, garnishment, or optional deductions such as insurance premiums or savings bonds or accounts.
We can apply an exclusion to income which is received either infrequently or irregularly provided the total of such income does not exceed: $10 per month of earned income; and/or $20 per month of unearned income.
Infrequent income is received no more than once in a calendar quarter from a single source. A single source of earned income is an employer, a trade, or a business. A single source of unearned income is an organization, an investment (a single financial account) or an individual. Irregular income is income that an individual could not reasonably expect to receive.
This exclusion can apply to both earned and unearned income in the same month provided the total of each does not exceed the limits. This means it is possible to exclude as much as $30 per month under this provision. This exclusion is separate from the $20 general income exclusion described in Section 20240.1 "Budgeting Income for Eligibility
This exclusion does not apply to any income received on an infrequent or irregular basis if the total of such income exceeds the amounts described above ($10 and $20). We exclude all of the infrequent or irregular income (when it meets the definition of infrequent or irregular income) or none of it (when it exceeds the limits).
Generally, anything received in a month, from any source, is income to an individual if it meets the definition of available income - Section 20200.1. Anything the individual owned prior to the month under evaluation, is subject to the resource rules. An item received in the current month is income for the current month only. It becomes a resource the following month.
16 Del. Admin. Code § 20000-20200