Medicaid Tag

A year ago,  the ABLE act was included in the Tax Extenders Package that was signed into law by president Obama. The ABLE Act is an amendment to section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code, which as you may know, provides for transfers into education funds whereby the income generated by the funds grows tax free. The ABLE Act provides a way for people who were diagnosed with a significant...

New Jersey Medicaid has a program to deliver home and community-based services to people who meet the “institutional level of care” but would be able to remain at home as long as they receive an array of long term services and supports (LTSS). Examples of LTSS are: bathing, grocery shopping, meal preparation, feeding, dressing, safety supervision, and hands-on help with...

When you make an estate plan, you take into consideration the needs of all the family members who you want to give a benefit for. One child may have disabilities and may or may not presently require government benefits. You may think that you don’t have much assets to leave behind for their lifelong support. Are you worried that they will be able to work to a degree, but not be able to...

If you’ve been caring for your child who has special needs, you have deep personal knowledge of how your child behaves and responds. You know what they like and what they hate. You know what triggers an anxious or distressed reaction. It could be a flavor, a show, a color, or a person. As an aging parent, you are probably concerned about who will take care of your child when you are...

The Special Needs Trust Fairness Act of 2015 ( S-349) would correct an error in OBRA ’93, which was a major revision to the Medicaid Act that allowed Medicaid applicants or recipients under age 65 to make penalty-free transfers of their assets or income into a first-party Special Needs Trust for their sole benefit. To qualify for the exemption, the Trust had to be established by a...

When a minor who has disabilities reaches age 18 and is incapacitated, their parent or custodian will typically file for Guardianship. In some cases, the minor has assets under Court control that are held in a guardianship court account through the county Surrogate. These might be assets that were received through a prior personal injury lawsuit award or settlement, or assets that the  minor...

Under the “doctrine of necessaries,” a married person in New Jersey is responsible for their spouse’s support, which includes long-term health care. Jersey Shore Med. Center/Fitkin v Baum (NJ Supreme Court 1990). In that case, the Court dealt with whether a widow was legally responsible for the unpaid medical bills of her late husband. Up to that time, the husband would have...

Laws change. Sometimes, federal law stays the same and state laws implementing it change. State statutes may remain the same but the state regulations change. State regulations may stay the same, but the executive branch agency issues advisory memoranda which change the procedures. That’s what occurred back in 2001 when the State of New Jersey Division of Medical Assistance and health...

Effective July 1, the State of New Jersey Division of Medical Assistance and health Services (DMAHS) has raised the Minimum Monthly Maintenance Allowance (MMMNA) for the spouse of a person who is on Medicaid. For residents of nursing homes, the general rule is that all of the resident’s income must be turned over to the facility as a cost-share, except for authorized deductions which...

A Special Needs Trust is a type of first-party trust that is often used to preserve a lump sum benefit for a low income disabled person under age 65, who needs the support of Medicaid and Supplemental Security income (SSI). Often one thinks of the these trusts in connection with someone who is on SSI because they are disabled and have not worked, such as a person with developmental...