If a member of a religious order leaves the convent (or comparable facility) and moves
to a private nonprofit residential care institution, ISM continues to be countable
if the order directly or indirectly continues to provide for the member's support
and maintenance in the institution. If the institution is affiliated with the order
and is not operating as a separate entity, we assume that the order is providing support
and maintenance under an express obligation to provide full support and maintenance
for members of the order who have taken a vow of poverty.
However, if the institution operates as a separate entity from the religious order,
the institution does not have the same express obligation to provide support and maintenance
to the members as the order does. If the separate institution is a private nonprofit
residential care institution (e.g., board and care home, personal care home, etc.),
the food and shelter it provides is not counted as ISM if all the following 3 requirements
in SI 00835.710C.1. are met.
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•
The institution does not have an express obligation to provide full support and maintenance
to the member.
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•
The institution has tax-exempt status under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue
Code (IRC) and is of the kind described in section 501(c) or (d) of that code.
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•
The institution itself provides the member with food and shelter for which it does
not receive payment expressly on behalf of that member (or it receives payment only
from the member or from another private nonprofit organization that is similarly tax
exempt). This requirement is not met if the order pays specifically for the member's support and maintenance in the
institution.
NOTE: When the ISM exclusion in SI 00835.710 applies, the food and shelter provided by the institution is completely excluded.
Therefore, when the ISM exclusion applies, it is not necessary to determine the actual
value of the food and shelter provided to the member by the institution or whether
the member's contribution equals the actual value of the food and shelter provided.
REMINDER: If a member moves into a medical facility such as a hospital or nursing home, ISM
is not countable per SI 00835.706A. However, the $30 payment limit applies if Medicaid pays at least 50% of the cost
of care.