(a) State plan requirements. A State plan under title I, IV—A, X, XIV, or XVI, of the Social Security Act must:

(1) Specify the groups of individuals, based on reasonable classifications, that will be included in the program, and all the conditions of eligibility that must be met by the individuals in the groups. The groups selected for inclusion in the plan and the eligibility conditions imposed must not exclude individuals or groups on an arbitrary or unreasonable basis, and must not result in inequitable treatment of individuals or groups in the light of the provisions and purposes of the public assistance titles of the Social Security Act. Under this requirement:

(i) A State shall impose each condition of eligibility required by the Social Security Act; and

(ii) A State may:

(A) Provide more limited public assistance coverage than that provided by the Act only where the Social Security Act or its legislative history authorizes more limited coverage;

(B) Impose conditions upon applicants for and recipients of public assistance which, if not satisfied, result in the denial or termination of public assistance, if such conditions assist the State in the efficient administration of its public assistance programs, or further an independent State welfare policy, and are not inconsistent with the provisions and purposes of the Social Security Act.

(iii) There must be clarity as to what groups are included in the plan, and which are within, and which are outside, the scope of Federal financial participation.

(iv) Eligibility conditions must be applied on a consistent and equitable basis throughout the State.

(v) A plan under title XVI must have the same eligibility conditions and other requirements for the aged, blind, and disabled, except as otherwise specifically required or permitted by the Act.

(vi) Eligibility conditions or agency procedures or methods must not preclude the opportunity for an individual to apply and obtain a determination of eligibility or ineligibility.

(vii) Methods of determining eligibility must be consistent with the objective of assisting all eligible persons to qualify.

(2) Provide that the State agency will establish methods for identifying the expenditures for assistance for any groups included in the plan for whom Federal financial participation in assistance may not be claimed.

(3) In addition, a State plan under title IV-A, X, XIV, or XVI of the Act, must: Provided that no aid or assistance will be provided under the plan to an individual with respect to a period for which he is receiving aid or assistance under a State plan approved under any other of such titles or under title I of the Act.

(b) Federal financial participation.

(1) The provisions which govern Federal financial participation in assistance payments are set forth in the Social Security Act, throughout this chapter, and in other policy issuances of the Secretary. Where indicated, State plan provisions are prerequisite to Federal financial participation with respect to the applicable group and payments. State plan provisions on need, the amount of assistance, and eligibility determine the limits of Federal financial participation. Federal financial participation is excluded from assistance payments in which the State refuses to participate because of the failure of a local authority to apply such State plan provisions.

(2) The following is a summary statement regarding the groups for whom Federal financial participation is available. (More detailed information is given elsewhere.)

(i) OAA—for needy individuals under the plan who are 65 years of age or older.

(ii) AFDC—for:

(a) Needy children under the plan who are:

(1) Under the age of 18, or age 18 if a full-time student in a secondary school, or in the equivalent level of vocational or technical training, and reasonably expected to complete the program before reaching age 19;

(2) Deprived of parental support or care by reason of the death, continued absence from the home, or physical or mental incapacity of a parent, or unemployment of a principal earner, and

(3) Living in the home of a parent or of certain relatives specified in the Act.

(b) The parent(s) of a dependent child, a caretaker relative (other than a parent) of a dependent child, and, in certain situations, a parent's spouse.

(iii) AB—for needy individual's under the plan who are blind.

(iv) APTD—for needy individuals under the plan who are 18 years of age or older and permanently and totally disabled.

(v) AABD—for needy individuals under the plan who are aged, blind, or 18 years of age or older and permanently and totally disabled.

(3) Federal financial participation is available in assistance payments made for the entire month in accordance with the State plan if the individual was eligible for a portion of the month, provided that the individual was eligible on the date that the payment was made; except that where it has been determined that the State agency had previously denied assistance to which the individual was entitled, Federal financial participation will be provided in any corrective payment regardless of whether the individual is eligible on the date that the corrective payment is made.

(4) Federal financial participation is available in assistance payments which are continued in accordance with the State plan, for a temporary period during which the effects of an eligibility condition are being overcome, e.g., blindness in AB, disability in APTD, physical or mental incapacity, continued absence of a parent, or unemployment of a principal earner in AFDC.

(5) Where changed circumstances or a hearing decision makes the individual ineligible for any assistance, or eligible for a smaller amount of assistance than was actually paid, Federal financial participation is available in excess payments to such individuals, for not more than one month following the month in which the circumstances changed or the hearing decision was rendered. Federal financial participation is available where assistance is required to be continued unadjusted because a hearing has been requested.

[36 FR 3866, Feb. 27, 1971, as amended at 38 FR 8744, Apr. 6, 1973; 39 FR 26912, July 24, 1974; 40 FR 32958, Aug. 5, 1975; 47 FR 5674, Feb. 5, 1982; 47 FR 47828, Oct. 28, 1982; 51 FR 9204, Mar. 18, 1986; 57 FR 30158, July 8, 1992]