When a medicaid application is processed, five years’ of transactions are examined, and among other things, they look to see if there were uncompensated transfers or “gifts.” The agency then must presume that the transfers were made for the purpose of expediting eligibility, and can impose a transfer penalty for the gifts. You are entitled to a Fair Hearing at the Office of Administrative Law to try to “rebut the presumption” by providing “convincing evidence” that gifts were made exclusively for a purpose unrelated to potential Medicaid eligibility. Sometimes, life takes a terrible turn and an otherwise healthy person makes gifts to their children but then becomes catastrophically ill and requires Medicaid to pay for their bills. That’s what happened to Mr. and Mrs. M in a case I handled 6 years ago.
Mr. and Mrs. M were in their mid-50’s. He retired at about 57 years of age. Coincidentally, the factory where his wife worked closed down. They had 2 children. They sold their house in NJ, transferred some of the modest proceeds to their children, and took a long-awaited and prolonged vacation out of the country . Upon their return, staying in their daughter’s apartment as they began looking for a new house to buy, Mrs. M. became desperately ill with a rampaging infectious condition and required lengthy hospitalization. She had no insurance and did not survive the crisis. In processing the Medicaid application, the agency imposed a transfer penalty for the gifts. We appealed.
Estate of M.M. vs Division of Medical Assistance & Health Services & Union County Board of Social Services, OAL docket no. HMA 13911-08 (2009)
DMAHS’ Final Agency Decision May 2009 adopting the ALJ Initial Decision, reverses County Board’s action that penalized pre-eligibility transfers of assets. The Agency confirmed the ALJ findings that transfers made to her daughters a year before the application were made exclusively for a reason unrelated to medicaid eligibility.
These cases are all fact-sensitive. Particularly in the case of younger applicants, there is opportunity to “rebut the presumption” with the careful development and presentation of the relevant evidence.
Call us for advice about Medicaid eligibility, planning, applications and appeals … 732-382-6070
