Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 6 of chapter 118E of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1986 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following three paragraphs:-

Any person who is eligible for assistance under this chapter who is not maintaining his own home and who is receiving care in a licensed nursing home, a licensed chronic hospital, a licensed rest home, or an approved public medical institution, shall retain the first sixty-five dollars of monthly income for clothing, personal needs allowance and leisure time activities. If there is no such income, or if it is less than sixty-five dollars, the recipient shall be paid monthly, in advance, the difference between such income and sixty-five dollars.

The department shall by regulation provide that personal laundry costs shall not be charged to the amount retained by or paid to the recipient pursuant to this section. Personal laundry costs shall be reimbursed through the per diem rates established by the rate setting commission under chapter six A.

Beginning on July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-eight and on July first of each subsequent year, the amount established in this section shall be increased at the same percentage rate as any increase payable to recipients of assistance under the provisions of title XVI of the federal Social Security Act.

SECTION 2. Section 1 of chapter 117 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following three paragraphs:-

Any person who is eligible for assistance under this chapter who is not maintaining his own home and who is receiving care in a licensed nursing home, a licensed chronic hospital, a licensed rest home, or an approved public medical institution, shall retain the first sixty-five dollars of monthly income for clothing, personal needs allowance, and leisure time activities. If there is no such income, or if it is less than sixty-five dollars, the recipient shall be paid monthly, in advance, the difference between such income and sixty-five dollars.

The department shall by regulation provide that personal laundry costs shall not be charged to the amount retained by or paid to the recipient pursuant to this section. Personal laundry costs shall be reimbursed through the per diem rates established by the rate setting commission pursuant to chapter six A.

Beginning on July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-eight and on July first of each subsequent year, the amount established in this section shall be increased by the same percentage rate as any increase payable to recipients of assistance under the provisions of title XVI of the federal Social Security Act.