Iowa § 239.1 - 239.1 Definitions.

§ 239.1. 239.1 Definitions.

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. “Applicant” means an individual who is applying for public assistance benefits in the state. 2. “Asset” for the purposes of the asset test for the supplemental nutrition assistance program under section 239.4 means all of the following resources countable toward the maximum allowed household asset limit of fifteen thousand dollars: a. All liquid resources. b. All other personal property excluding one vehicle and the fair market value in excess of ten thousand dollars of an additional vehicle. 3. “Asset test” for the purposes of the asset test for the supplemental nutrition assistance program under section 239.4 means the comparison of the collective value of all countable assets of the members of the applicant’s household to the maximum allowed household asset limit of fifteen thousand dollars. 4. “Department” means the department of health and human services. 5. “Public assistance” means the supplemental nutrition assistance program or SNAP, the Medicaid program or Medicaid as defined in section 249A.2, the family investment program or FIP as defined in section 239B.1, and the children’s health insurance program or CHIP. 6. “Real-time eligibility system” means real-time electronic access to a system that allows verification of all applicable public assistance program eligibility information based on the most recent information available to the department through nonmodeled earned and unearned income, such as commercially available wage data. 7. “Recipient” means an individual who is receiving public assistance benefits in the state. 8. “Supplemental nutrition assistance program” or “SNAP” means benefits provided by the federal program administered through 7 C.F.R. pts. 270 – 283, as amended. 2023 Acts, ch 104, §1; 2023 Acts, ch 112, §57 Thu Dec 11 19:13:06 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Section 239.1 (4, 0)