Medicaid Applicant is Entitled to Actual Notice of Deficiencies of Application
As my readers know by now, a Medicaid application is comprised of five years’ of financial records for every single asset and transaction that occurred during the 5-year “look-back” period preceding the application, along with a host of “personal identifiers” and proofs pertaining to income, marital status, legal residency, birthdate and more. If an application is...
Court upholds Revocation of CNA Certification for tying nursing home resident’s wheelchair to handrail
A Certified Nurses’ Aide who worked in a New Jersey nursing home has lost her Certification for tying a resident’s wheelchair to the hallway handrail, causing agitation, distress and confinement of the resident. The act was found to constitute abuse & neglect, and this finding has been placed next to her name on the New Jersey Nurse Aide Registry.
An administrative hearing was...
New Jersey Now Has Its Own ABLE Program
ABLE accounts are accounts created under Section 529A of the Internal Revenue Code with State counterparts, designed for people who became disabled before the age of 26. Finally, New Jersey has adopted its Plan.
A disabled person or their POA or guardian can use the account for any expenses that are incurred as a result of living with a disability and are intended to improve the disabled...
New guide available for appeals of Medicaid Managed Care Decisions
Medicaid services are now provided through managed care organizations (MCO’s), which are required by federal law to provide a grievance and appeal process for the enrollees. An enrollee may be dissatisfied with the number of hours of service, or the services being provided, or a host of other issues. Three major nonprofits have collaborated on a new guide for advocates to help them in...
Trouble afoot for Special Needs Trusts in New Jersey
A trend is developing in the State of New Jersey when it comes to the State’s review of the payments made by Trustees of Special Needs Trusts. Trustees are reporting that the State is raising objections to numerous types of disbursements made by the trustees. New Jersey rules require the trustee to file an annual accounting with the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, as...
Tenancy by the Entirety – a form of ownership with special protections
In the recent case of Jimenez v. Jimenez, N.J. Super. App. Div.(MAY 8, 2018) (approved for publication), the NJ Superior Court, Appellate Division rebuffed the efforts of a creditor to force the sale of a home owned by the debtor and his spouse as tenants by the entireties. Relying upon a New Jersey statute, the Court held that the legislature has prohibited spouses from severing their...
Who’s doing that Medicaid application?
An application for Medicaid to pay for nursing home care can be filed by the individual himself, his spouse, another relative by blood or marriage, a staff member of an agency of which the person is a client, the person’s physician, the person’s attorney, or a designated staff member at the nursing home. Of course, a court-appointed Guardian or Agent under Power of Attorney could...
Questions the Executor should ask the Estate’s Accountant
The house is sold, the estate’s debts and bills have all been paid, the accounting has been presented to the beneficiaries, they have signed off on the Release & Refunding Bonds, and now it’s time for the estate’s Executor or Administrator to distribute the estate to the beneficiaries according to the Will or according to the requirements of the law. The estate may have...
CMS confirms that transfer penalty for Medicaid home care applicants starts to run at time of application
Followers of this blog know that when a person applies for Medicaid under the New Jersey MLTSS program or other state programs that pay for nursing homes, assisted living or home health care services, there is a 5-year look-back that is done by the agency to determine if a transfer penalty should be imposed for gifts made during the 5 years preceding the application. The penalty is a period of...
Trustee of Special Needs Trust must be cautious in making reimbursements
A person who is receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from the Social Security Administration must report changes in his income or resources (assets) to SSI, because this can affect his eligibility or the amount of benefits. If countable resources exceed $2,000 on the first of a month, eligibility can be lost. If the issue is detected after the fact, there can be a resulting overpayment...