Special Needs and other Medicaid issues will be on the discussion table this Friday September 18th at 9:00 am when the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health holds a hearing entitled Improving the Medicaid Program for Beneficiaries. The subcommittee will review and hear testimony on four pieces of legislation, including H.R. 670, the Special Needs Trust Fairness Act. The Special Needs Trust Fairness Act was passed unanimously in the Senate on September 9.
The bill is designed to enable a capable person who has disabilities to establish their own Special Needs Trust as a way to preserve assets for their sole benefit in connection with eligibility for Medicaid. The federal statute — 42 USC 1396p(d)4(A) — requires that an SNT be established by a parent, grandparent, court, or guardianship with court permission. There has always been a gap in the statute, and there’s no inherent reason why a capable (not incompetent/not incapacitated) individual with disabilities shouldn’t be able to engage an attorney to establish such a trust for them. This bill would correct that error and close that gap. The bill is sponsored by Representatives Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) and Frank Pallone and has bipartisan support. It passed unanimously in the Senate.
If this issue is of interest to you, contact your Congresspeople to vote for HR 670..
For legal advice and assistance in creating, funding and administering a Special Needs trust, call us at … 732-382-6070