The following definitions apply in this section:
(1) Asset. - Resources and income.
(2) Department. - The Department of Health and Human Services.
(3) Division. - The Division of Health Benefits.
(4) Estate recovery. - The placing of a statutory claim on the estate of a deceased Medicaid recipient, as provided by G.S. 108A-70.5.
(5) Medicaid. - The federal medical assistance program established under Title XIX of the Social Security Act.
(6) Qualified long-term care partnership policy or qualified policy. - A long-term care insurance policy approved for use in North Carolina and that meets all the requirements of the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, P.L. 109-171.
(7) Resource. - Cash or its equivalent and real or personal property that is available to an applicant or recipient.
(8) Resource disregard. - The amount of resources of an applicant for long-term care Medicaid that is equal to the amount of benefits paid to the applicant under a qualified long-term care partnership policy.
(9) Resource protection. - An amount equal to the resource disregard given to a Medicaid recipient during the long-term care Medicaid eligibility determination process.