LCO No. 1229 1 of 1 General Assembly Proposed Bill No. 146 January Session, 2019 LCO No. 1229 Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS Introduced by: SEN. FORMICA, 20th Dist. SEN. KELLY, 21st Dist. AN ACT EXPANDING CERTAIN VETERANS' ACCESS TO PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: That the general statutes be amended to (1) prohibit the 1 Commissioner of Social Services from considering any federal non-2 service-connected pension benefits, including, but not limited to, the 3 basic pension, the Aid and Attendance benefit and the Housebound 4 benefit when determining income eligibility of any veteran or such 5 veteran's surviving spouse for certain Medicare state programs, and (2) 6 permit said commissioner to seek approval of an amendment to the 7 state Medicaid plan or a waiver from federal law, if necessary, to 8 exempt such benefits from income eligibility criteria as unreimbursed 9 medical expenses. 10 Statement of Purpose: To require that pension benefits granted to certain veterans by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs be disregarded when determining income eligibility for certain state Medicare programs, as well as permit the Commissioner of Social Services to pursue exempting such benefits from income eligibility criteria as unreimbursed medical expenses.