Special Needs Trust Fairness Act up for House Committee Hearing
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...
Pooled Special Needs Trusts can work well for small trusts
There are times that an individual with disabilities who is under 65 receives a lump sum of money at a time when s/he is receiving benefits through Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid or the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD). The problem of course is that those are all means-tested benefits and the participant is at risk of losing eligibility if they retain the assets....
Special Needs Trust can’t be created by beneficiary’s agent under power of attorney
Federal law allows a person who receives or is applying for Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which are means-tested programs, to transfer their excess resources into a Special Needs Trust that was “established for the sole benefit of the disabled individual by a parent, grandparent, legal guardian or the disabled individual or a court.” 42 U.S.C. 1396p(d)(4)(A)...