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Medical Expense Deduction During Review Periods

Medical Expenses at Interim Report

Clients are not required nor are they asked to report changes in medical expenses at Interim Report (IR). However, a client at IR may voluntarily report changes in medical expenses by:

  • writing on the paper form in the Additional Notes section (or elsewhere on the form);
  • editing or adding health insurance or medical expenses while completing online IR;
  • verbally reporting the change during a call or in-person interaction; and/or
  • submitting medical expense documentation.

Reminder: Staff must act on verified-upon-receipt information. This means that if a client voluntarily supplies verification a medical expense, you must update BEACON to include the verified expense if not already credited, even if the client was not actually required to provide documentary evidence.

If a client at IR reports a change in medical expenses that results in total medical expenses going above $35 per month, the client must submit documentary evidence to receive credit. In this scenario, if medical verification was not provided with the IR, you must send an optional VC-1 for the medical expense.

Important: If a client does not report any medical information on the IR form and they have existing medical expenses, you must not call or send a letter to ask the client about their medical expenses. You must leave the medical expense record as is.

If the client voluntarily reports a new or change in one expense, but no change in other existing expenses, the client only has to verify the new/changed expense. In this scenario, you must not ask the client to reverify the medical expenses that have not changed.

ExampleExample

Elroy (he/him) is currently receiving credit for $150 per month in prescriptions. At IR, Elroy reports $50 per month in health insurance. Staff must send a VC-1 for the health insurance and leave the $150 per month of prescriptions in BEACON since Elroy did not report a change or provide updated verification. His medical expenses will be revisited at Recertification.

Medical Expenses at Recertification

Clients are required to verify all medical expenses at Recertification regardless of being new expenses or existing recurring expenses. Non-recurring expenses end on their scheduled end date and do not extend beyond the recertification end date.

When a client completes their Recertification through DTA Connect all medical expenses will be removed in BEACON. However, if a client completes a paper Recertification, you will need to end the existing records and create new records for what is being reported.

Clients can report medical expenses at recertification by:

  • writing on the paper form; 
  • reporting health insurance or medical expenses while completing online Recert;
  • verbally reporting the expenses during a call or in-person interaction; and/or
  • submitting medical expense documentation.

If a recertifying client reports that they have medical expenses, you must send an optional VC-1 for medical expenses.

Reminder: You must continue following the procedures for handling optional verifications at recertification. See Simplified Reporting - Recertification.

Example 1Example 1

Josephina (she/her) is federally disabled and was credited with a non-recurring hospital bill of $1,000 when she applied for SNAP about a year ago. She was certified as SIMP-12 because she was certified with her husband, who is neither elderly nor federally disabled. At application, staff determined that Josephina would receive the most SNAP if DTA prorated the hospital over 12 months, the length of the certification period. At recertification, staff do not request a new statement showing the remaining balance of hospital bill because the expense is non-recurring and Josephina cannot get credit for it again.

Example 2Example 2

Jeanine (she/her) is elderly and was credited with a recurring bill for prescription medications ($100 per month). She was certified as EDSAP and lives alone. At recertification, Jeanine reports that she still has prescription costs and that she is now paying $50 per month for health insurance. Staff must send a VC-1 because Jeanine has to re-verify prescription costs and provide verification of her newly-reported health insurance costs.

Last Update: July 22, 2026

 

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