Search

The authors comment on the article "Fixing the Leak: Avoiding IRA Liquidation in Crisis Medicaid Planning," by Dale M., Krause and Scott M. Engstrom, that was published in the Spring 2020 issue of this publication. Topics discussed include Medicaid planning, tax implications of individual retirement account (IRA) liquidation, and purchasing an annuity in an institutionalized spouse's IRA payable to the community spouse.

The article presents DeCambre v. Brookline Housing Authority court case which deals with issues of public benefit and housing benefit programs in the U.S. In this case First Circuit held that existing U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program regulations for federal rent support for the financially needed local housing authorities (LHAs) to disregard distributions of principal from first-party special needs trusts.

The article reports the decision of the U.S. 8th circuit court in the case 'Draper v. Colvin' concerning the first-party special needs trust established by parents to allow their daughter to have her trust assets excluded from consideration when she applies for means-tested public benefits. Topics discussed include the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA); Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits; and the Social Security Appeals Council.

The article looks at the decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court in "Saccone v. Board of Trustees of the Police and Firemen's Retirement System." It mentions that the Court held that the survivor benefit for the disabled child of a firefighter, Thomas Saccone, could be directed by the parent to a first-party special needs trust for the child. It mentions that the court has reversed the decisions of the board of trustees of the State Police and Firemen's Retirement System (PFRS) in the case.

The article focuses on the importance of the state trust law for the federal welfare programs. Topics discussed include overview of the efforts of the U.S. Congress for public benefits, role of federal agencies like Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as well as Social Security Administration (SSA) in the health coverage and importance of merger of public interest with the trust laws. It further discusses the role of public benefits administrators.

The article discusses anti-lien provisions related the U.S. government medical aid scheme for poor families, Medicaid. It comments on the U.S. Supreme Court case Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services v. Ahlborn case that puts the limitations on American states' subrogation rights. It suggests that the confusion around the issue of subrogation needs to be clarified by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The article discusses the U.S. Supreme Court case of Marmet Health Care Center v. Brown. It informs that the Court has limited the application of federal law related to the use of arbitration clauses by prohibiting its use in a specific industry and nursing homes. It reflects that Marmet Health Care Center, a nursing home in West Virginia, has introduced a business-oriented agreement regarding defense of nursing homes that provide profits from preventable negligence causing injury and death. It reports that the nursing home's rights and privileges regarding discharge to a hospital for medical reasons shift on state law until the resident qualifies for Medicaid and absence of a signed agreement can affect their rights.

The article discusses a court case of Lewis v. Alexander that was decided by the Third Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals and which the court stroked down of the decisions made by the U.S. district court based on a statute of Pennsylvania related to the restrictions imposed on the use of limited trust retention of postmortem accounts and pooled special needs trust accounts (PSNT) to 50 percent. The issues related to declaratory and injunctive relief in case of putative class action filed by several individuals are discussed. The challenges related to the comparability argument with reference to the U.S. Medicaid statutes are also discussed.

The article discusses a court case of E.M.A. v. Cansler as decided by the Fourth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, related to the application of portion of the trial of Arkanas Dept. of Health and Human Servs. v. Ahlborn, based on federal Medicaid law and statute of North Carolina for the recovery of full expenditures in case of personal injury. The exception in case of subrogation right, prohibition of liens in case of Medicaid rule and the valuation of tort cases are discussed. The issues related to the manipulation of settlements by the private parties for limiting subrogation recovery are also discussed.